Survival of the Fittest by Robin Hawdon

Hawdon’s second novel, Survival of the Fittest asks the questions: Does God really exist? Are science and religion incompatible bed fellows? Surprisingly Charles Darwin himself, whose theory of evolution did more than anything to ignite these fundamental debates, refrained from commenting in depth about its philosophical implications for fear of creating yet greater furore.

But suppose that he did in fact write down his conclusions, and kept them as a secret Addendum to his seminal work, ‘Origin of Species’. And suppose his beloved wife Emma, a devout Christian, kept her own secret journal detailing their extraordinary life together, and was the only other person to know of this hidden postscript.

Survival of the Fittest, is about a modern day detective search for these two hugely significant works. Its central character, Maurice, is an eccentric London antiquarian book dealer who is hired by an equally eccentric American billionaire to track down the documents for his world famous collection of original manuscripts. Maurice’s complex investigation ranges across England, and involves him in encounters ranging from the criminal, to the romantic, to the revelatory.

Along the way he discovers the spiritual struggle within the extraordinary Darwin household, and the effects of that same struggle on modern extremism. As the hunt becomes more and more intense the question arises what to do with the findings. Do we really want to know the truth about religious beliefs, or will the answer just stir up a hornet’s nest?

survival of the fittest book cover
5 out of 5 rating

Reviews

Who would imagine that Charles Darwin’s wife could be a matter of scientific significance in the great man’s life? Hawdon manages to explicitly tie in Darwin’s worrisome concerns over his theory of Natura Selection with his wife’s hesitancy to embrace his ideas… – William

Some books defy classification within a single genre, and that is true of Survival of the Fittest, a new novel by British playwright and actor Robin Hawdon. Part historical fiction, part mystery, and part spiritual/philosophical journey, it’s based upon the private, unpublished papers of Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma… – Linda Pagliuco

Robin Hawdon obviously has a wide knowledge of science, philosophy and humanism. He uses these to great effect in this novel which defies genre. It was the choice for our January book club and everyone agreed that it is a real page turnerSchoenfeld Harry

Built around the life of the major scientist-Charles Darwin-this novel intertwines the real life dilemmas faced by CD and his wife, Emma with a modern detective and spy storyAl Wall