The Wrong Kind of Woman By Sarah McCraw Crow

Disclaimer: I received a free advance copy to facilitate this review. All opinions and thoughts are my own. 

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I was recently asked to join this book tour with a spotlight on this book. The author is new to me and I was excited to read this book. 

Book Description 

A powerful exploration of what a woman can be when what she should be is no longer an option

In late 1970, Oliver Desmarais drops dead in his front yard while hanging Christmas lights. In the year that follows, his widow, Virginia, struggles to find her place on the campus of the elite New Hampshire men’s college where Oliver was a professor. While Virginia had always shared her husband’s prejudices against the four outspoken, never-married women on the faculty—dubbed the Gang of Four by their male counterparts—she now finds herself depending on them, even joining their work to bring the women’s movement to Clarendon College.

Soon, though, reports of violent protests across the country reach this sleepy New England town, stirring tensions between the fraternal establishment of Clarendon and those calling for change. As authorities attempt to tamp down “radical elements,” Virginia must decide whether she’s willing to put herself and her family at risk for a cause that had never felt like her own.

Told through alternating perspectives, The Wrong Kind of Woman is an engrossing story about finding the strength to forge new paths, beautifully woven against the rapid changes of the early ‘70s.

About Sarah McCraw Crow

Sarah McCraw Crow grew up in Virginia but has lived most of her adult life in New Hampshire. Her short fiction has run in Calyx, Crab Orchard Review, Good Housekeeping, So to Speak, Waccamaw, and Stanford Alumni Magazine. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Stanford University and is finishing an MFA degree at Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she's not reading or writing, she's probably gardening or snowshoeing (depending on the weather).

My Thoughts

I found this book to be moving and thought-provoking. Set in the late '60s and early 70's we met Virginia a woman who has lost her husband and is trying to find her way. 

this story takes us to bake to a time when women's places were thought to be in the home raising kids and cooking. So to see Virginia struggle with her identity was heartbreaking. She struggled with who the world thought she should be and who she wanted to be. As we follow her journey her life is interwoven with 2 other women. 

I loved the alternating perspective and getting to known the other characters. I was captivated by Virginia's story as I could relate to her. As someone who is trying to find her way in this world but society keeps telling me I can't do the things I want to do to health issues. I really bonded with the character. 

This is a powerful story of self-discovery and one many can relate to living in this time of a pandemic and having to rediscover who we are.