The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow
Rating 4/5 Stars
Published by MIRA
Published On 6th October 2020

Thank you to Netgalley, MIRA, and of course, Sarah McCraw Crow, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Virginia’s life is forever changed when her husband dies of a heart attack while stringing Christmas lights. Suddenly a single mother, Virginia must seek employment to support her family. Set in the 1970s where jobs were hard to find for women, The Wrong Kind of Woman follows Virginia meeting four women on the faculty of her late professor husband. It is with these 4 women that Virginia forms lifelong friendships and propels the women’s movement forward on the university front.

As a debut novel, I really enjoyed this! I found the theme of feminism to be so strong and beautifully conveyed. I found the book to be unexpected at parts and thought provoking and I really am looking forward to reading further works from Crow! I found this to be a fast read and recommend it if you have also been in a 1970s style kick with reading like me!

This book was so refreshing to me! I LOVE historical fiction but I feel like all too often, it’s about World War II Germany, or France, or Poland, etc. I have never read a book about feminism in the 70s and I truly enjoyed it! While slow in parts (why it only got 3 stars to me), I think it paints a wonderfully detailed picture of the movements against Vietnam and for women’s equality while also showing what academia was like. Great read!

4.5 overall

A decisive and intelligent novel that follows the evolving lives of three interwoven characters during a shifting period in American history. Politics, gender roles, women’s rights, and coed education are just some of the topics touched on.

What’s truly wonderful about this novel, though, is the way the author writes these characters. They are all lovingly written and humanized; their stories are raw and vulnerable. You can feel how the world changing around them affects them emotionally. It was beautiful and so refreshing.

The 1970s is not a period I've read much about in U.S. historical fiction, so that was interesting to me, especially reading the descriptions/discussions of political protests and debates in the 1970s and seeing what still rings true in today's social climate. I typically enjoy books that provide multiple perspectives (this one has three: Virginia, her daughter, and a college student), but this time I was more interested in the secondary characters. I would have loved to read the story from the perspectives of the Gang of Four, especially Louise, and maybe Elodie.

I anticipate many criticisms of this book will include the fact that the characters were mostly privileged white people, which might seem a little tone-deaf in a book about political unrest during our current time of political unrest, but it is about sexism in 1970s New England academia, so.... it's something to consider, but not worth writing off the whole book (IMHO). Overall, some parts resonated with me while reading, but I don't think it will be a story that stays with me.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.