What Wild Women Do

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown
Narrator: Karissa Vacker, Hillary Huber
Published by Dutton, Penguin Random House Audio on October 24, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Women
Length: 8 hours 55 minutes
Pages: 320
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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From the #1 internationally bestselling author of Recipe for a Perfect Wife comes a must-read book of the season.

A 1970s feminist facing the costs of loss and autonomy strives to create a better future for women at her Adirondack camp; meanwhile, an aspiring screenwriter makes a shocking discovery in the present that sets her on a course of rewriting her own story.

Rowan is stuck. Her dreams of becoming a screenwriter are stalled, along with her bank account, as she and her fiancé Seth try to make sense of what’s next for them after leaving LA. But when the couple takes a trip to a cabin in the Adirondacks, hoping the change will provide inspiration for Seth’s novel-in-progress, Rowan finds herself drawn into a story greater than her own—that of socialite-turned-feminist-crusader Eddie Calloway, who vanished one day in 1975 and was never found or heard from again. In a handbook left behind in the abandoned ruins of a once great camp, Rowan starts to discover clues to what happened to Eddie.

As Rowan delves deeper into the mystery, we meet Eddie herself, a fierce and loving woman whose greatest wish was to host women at her camp and unlock their “wildness.” However, Eddie’s wild ways aren’t welcomed by everyone, and rifts between camp owners threaten her mission. When Rowan gets closer to the truth of Eddie’s disappearance, she realizes that it may hold the key to unlocking her own ambition and future.

I enjoyed this book! This was my first experience with this author so I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I picked up this book but it turned out to be a great experience. This story is told in two timelines. We meet Rowan in the present day first and I have to admit that her point of view was my favorite in the story. We also meet Eddie in the 1970s who hosted camps for women in the same area that Rowan and her fiance visited years later. I was very curious about what happened to Eddie when she disappeared years ago and I also wanted to see what choices present-day Rowan would make.

I felt very invested in this story. I feel like I took quite the journey with Rowan and Eddie. I connected with Rowan a bit more than I did with Eddie but I really enjoyed getting to know both women. Eddie went through a lot in her life and I loved how she worked so hard to empower women. Rowan visits the area of Eddie’s camp with her future husband, Seth. I can’t say that I was a fan of Seth. I thought that the trip helped Rowan figure out what she really wanted for her life and was a positive experience overall.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Karissa Vacker and Hillary Huber did a wonderful job with the story. I have had a lot of luck with both of these narrators in the past and I thought that this was another solid performance. I liked that the two points of view were narrated by a different narrator and I thought that they both did a great job of bringing the characters to life. I found both voices to be very pleasant and I do believe that their performance added to my enjoyment of the story.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well-done story featuring two characters that were easy to like. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen and I really felt like I knew these women by the end of the story. I hope to read more of Karma Brown’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Dutton Books and Penguin Random House Audio.

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