The Wrong Kind of Woman

The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow I take the tasks of a novel to be: entertain me, divert me, make me think and to impress me with novelistic / artistic technique. (I obviously ask a lot of a novel!) The novel should be saying something, making a statement. This novel delivers for me on all of my requirements and I expect that it will linger with me for quite awhile. I can hardly ask more. Set in the semi-distant past of 1970 – 50 years ago and as such in a dwindling past, The Wrong Kind of Woman manages a note-perfect simulation of that time while being equally about our (equally disturbing) time. The more I think about Crow’s fictionalized past, the more it seems germane to the present. All of the themes and subplots could be transposed to 2020 without loss in translation. This is no mean feat for a novelist – using the past as a lens for our miasmic contemporary trouble. (Applause here!) I am given a lot to reflect on here beyond current events. Her characters walk, talk, live and breathe. They confront and either overcome or fail to their failings and circumstances and things are resolved (or not) without recourse to convention. We see characters growing together, apart and acting like human beings. They betray each other, surprise each other, are confused and / or confounded but continue inevitably onward. Most remarkably, the story-telling is subtly expert. As a reader I am often totally absorbed into the action. (It’s that suspension of disbelief and immersion in the text that I look for and seldom find). I found myself wondering about the characters’ fates and hoping for outcomes that they have earned. I am pulled through the text in the sense of a page-turner. The voice of the novelist never intrudes and the details of 1970 are as I remember. Most of all, the use of interior monologue (giving me the internal voices of the characters) is unobtrusive and masterful throughout. This technique gives me the “wow’ I seek from a writer. My requirements as a novel reader are very well met by The Wrong Kind of Woman, and then some. Hats off to Sarah McCraw Crow on her first novel. I am anxious see what she gives us next.

Sarah McCraw Crow\’s writing has an intimate, deft energy that\’s truly a joy to experience. *FULL REVIEW TO COME*

An immersive, character-driven story with plenty of heart, The Wrong Kind of Woman weaves together slice of life drama and 1970s campus activism to create a rich tapestry depicting the beauty of transformation achieved through struggle. The characters are drawn with depth and nuance, especially Virginia, with whom I empathized and connected deeply. Her personal journeys through loss and reclamation parallel with the growing pains of Clarendon College in a masterful way that brilliantly embodies the feminist slogan \”the personal is political.\” Themes of belonging, self-discovery, community, and reckoning all rise to the surface of this moving debut. If you\’re searching for an exemplary work of historical fiction set in the seventies, women\’s fiction with an empowering and triumphant energy, or simply enjoy complex and realistic characters, this is a must-read.

I enjoyed reading this book and delving into a period of upheaval in American society which encompassed changing roles for women and protests over the Vietnam war. It was hard to put this book down. I was so sorry when it was finished! I\’m already looking forward to the next book from this author.

Masterfully narrated primarily through the internal and external dialogue of three main characters, Sarah McCraw Crow’s nuanced writing weaves slice-of-life stories into a turbulent backdrop of the early ‘70s. Neither the story nor storytelling are overdramatized, creating a convincing coming-of-age narrative for the teenage daughter, and in another sense, for her recently widowed mother as well. They’re both adjusting to the unfamiliar landscape of a newly evolving era, personally and politically. This character driven novel gives a clear sense of the charged atmosphere of rapidly changing times without the distraction of an overly complicated plot, making it very believable and relatable. The alternating perspectives keep it refreshing and I found I really care about these characters. The feminist movement was still budding in the early \’70s and I would love to see how they continue to evolve through this pivotal decade.

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