From the bestselling author of The Love Letter， comes a playful and evocative exploration of the nature of friendship"Classy， intelligent fun." --PeopleSix hundred miles off the Ecuadoran mainland， just south of the equator， the Galpagos Islands are home to diverse species of exotic wildlife--and tourists of every stripe and feather. It is here that Jane Barlow Schwartz embarks on a quest as urgent as Charles Darwin s one hundred and fifty years before: to find out why her childhood friendship with her cousin and soul-mate Martha ended; and what unknown event， family feud， or unintended slight caused the happiest part of her life to become extinct. Along the way， amid blue-footed boobies， red-lipped batfish， and various species mating， squabbling， separating， and coming together again， Jane ponders the origin of her own colorful and peculiar heritage， a secret history of natural selection， and the flawed and fascinating evolutionary process that makes us all who we are.Praise for The Evolution of Jane"A tour de force . . . witty. Consistently amusing and provocative . . . a great pleasure to read."--The New York Times"We should rejoice in a rare novel like The Evolution of Jane. A beautifully descriptive travelogue of the Galpagos . . . wrapped around a rollicking family saga tinged with hints of sexual intrigue. Three cheers."--Barbara Kingsolver， The New York Times Book Review"Hilariously rendered. In her smart， funny， and moving book， Schine weaves a tight bond between natural processes and human love， and reveals to us the spiritual metamorphosis that is life itself."--San Diego Union-Tribune