What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown

 A special thank you to Viking Canada/Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review..

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

Much like its strong female characters, What Wild Women Do is a force. Told in dual timelines/perspectives, Brown's latest offering is a comment on social media, the pressures of societal expectations on women, and finding one's purpose. 

Although Rowan and Eddie are from different decades, they have a lot in common—they are passionate, strong, and resilient. Both storylines are equally captivating and an ode to women. Brown elevates the novel with added layers of mystery and self-discovery. 

Atmospheric, mysterious, and compelling, What Wild Women Do is a must read.

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KARMA BROWN is an award-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers Come Away With Me, The Choices We Make, In This Moment, The Life Lucy Knew, and Recipe for a Perfect Wife. Her first non-fiction book, The 4% Fix, published in 2020. Karma's writing has appeared in publications such as Redbook, SELF, and Chatelaine. 

Brown lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and their adorably handsome labradoodle, Fred.

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Q & A with Karma Brown*

GWR: This is your sixth fiction novel, do you approach each the same way or has your writing process changed? 

KB: Some things are always the same, like writing a detailed synopsis before a single page of the manuscript, and doing research and brainstorming ahead of drafting. I find a first draft (my least favourite part of the process) comes out more easily if I do this work first. You’re going to have to do the fiddly stuff at some point, and the “when” simply comes down to style and personal preference. However, I did something with this book that I haven’t before. Instead of writing the chapters consecutively, alternating between characters and timelines, I wrote Rowan’s (modern protagonist) storyline first, then switched to Eddie’s (1970s protagonist). That wasn’t my plan going in, but it’s what made sense for this book. So even though some things stay the same with my process, I’m always open to new strategies—every book is its own journey!

GWR: 
Being a screenwriter, Rowan would know how to pitch the book, but what do you think Eddie would say about it? 

KB: Eddie offers a lot of wisdom throughout the story, but I think she would keep it simple. Something like, “This book is about learning, and trusting, your personal truths. Nothing else matters!” After that she’d take a big sip of her beloved chocolate milk, and give a raised eyebrow look, as if to say, “Prove me wrong.”



GWR: Jess and Aidan live completely off the grid—is this something you think you could do? 

KB: Is it something I dream of doing? Yes. Is it something I think I could do…probably not. I am that person who wants to sit under a mother tree in a forest of mother trees, with a morning mug of coffee listening to birdsongs, and have nothing but wilderness surrounding me. But I’m also grateful that I can get next-day delivery without leaving my house, and I’m a big fan of indoor plumbing. 



GWR: The themes of this book—female relationships, societal pressures on women, the impact of social media—are all relatable, yet your take is fresh and also has an added element of mystery. Where did you draw inspiration from?

KB: I love setting a book in an isolated place, and the vast woods felt perfect for this story. When I was a child my parents took me and my younger sister to Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks. It was the 1970s, we were the children of hippies and so well-versed in exploring wide open spaces and spending time in nature. Camp Sagamore had originally belonged to the gilded Vanderbilt family—these great camps were compounds built in the woods for these families to escape city life—and we stayed in Gloria Vanderbilt’s cabin, which was exciting! We spent our days exploring the woods, making plaster casts of animal paw prints, eating communally in the large, wooden beamed dining hall, and bowling for hours in the open-air alley. It was magical, and all these years later, it was that visit that inspired the setting for this book. But an isolated forest also lends itself well to mystery and disappearances…the trees are great secret keepers. 

GWR: 

Strong women are central to your books. Who are some other authors you would recommend that also write strong female characters well? 

KB: This is a tough question to answer, not only because there are many authors to recommend, but also because what makes a female character “strong” depends on context, and perspective. However, some of my favourite female characters—who I think embody that adjective—are: Carrie Soto (Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid); Joanna Eberhart (The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin); Dr. Marina Singh (State of Wonder, Ann Patchett); Harriett Osborne (The Change, Kirsten Miller); and Carlota Moreau (The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia). 

GWR: 

What are some great books you’ve read this summer?

KB: This summer was a busy one, and I didn’t get as much time to read as I wanted to. So, here’s a sampling of a few great books I’ve read this year (so far): How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix; Weyward, by Emilia Hart; The Whispers, by Ashley Audrain; Nightbitch, by Rachel Yoder; The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, by Colleen Oakley; Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. 

GWR: 

What do you hope readers will take away from What Wild Women Do?

KB: I hope readers see, through Eddie and Rowan’s stories, that bravery, courage and resiliency arrive in both bold and quiet ways. Also, to remember that we only get this one life…so, how do you want to spend it?  

GWR: 

If your book was a beverage, what would it be?

KB: I have no clue! Why is this the hardest question of them all?

Maybe a dark-roast, piping hot coffee, with a generous pour of organic soy milk, cinnamon and fresh nutmeg sprinkled on top. Strong, slightly out of the ordinary, a touch sweet and spicy. 



GWR: Can you share what you are working on next?

KB: All I can say at the moment is that I’m actively drafting a new story—one that veers into a different genre from what I’ve written before—and that I am having the most fun writing it! Stay tuned for more ☺ 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada. 

Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare

A special thank you to the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The bottom of Jess’s world is falling out. Cocooned in her dorm in the winter of 1998, she’s reeling, and wants to be left alone. But a chance encounter with the older, otherworldly, elusive Clara has Jess awestruck. Clara, newly returned from a two-year trek drifting around the world, is taking a stab at normalcy for once, and the place she starts is university, where she struggles to fit in. Upon meeting Jess, though, Clara feels an instant connection, and everything seems brighter. Soon, the two are inseparable, undeniable necessities in each other’s lives. But when tragedy strikes, they are unceremoniously torn apart, sent tumbling down different paths. And with each passing day, their unbreakable bond is tested more and more.

As they endure love and heartbreak, marriage, anxiety and isolation, and the complicated existence of motherhood, Jess and Clara must learn how to love each other through it all—and whether growing up inevitably means growing apart.

Asking for a Friend is an ode to friendships and the importance of connection. Claire's novel is both heartbreaking and uplifting—she perfectly captures how sustaining female relationships are.

Told in shifting perspectives and spanning two decades, this novel explores some weightier topics: abortion, pregnancy loss, women's reproductive rights, the challenges of motherhood, and women's roles. Jess and Clara have an unbreakable bond that sees them through the highs and lows of friendship, and their life choices yet through it all, they always find their way back to each another. 

With its incredible depth, this book is the perfect choice for book clubs and to celebrate the women in your life.

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KERRY CLARE is a blogger, the author of Waiting for a Star to Fall and Mitzi Bytes, editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood, a National Magazine Award-nominated essayist, and editor 49thShelf.com, a Canadian books website. 

Clare lives in Toronto with her husband and children.

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Q & A with Kerry Clare*

GWR: How did you start writing/become a writer?   

KC: I've loved books my whole life and have wanted to be a writer since Grade 3 when I wrote a poem about Remembrance Day that, if I may boast a bit, was kind of a big deal around the school assembly that year. What a wondrous thing it was to write *and to be read,* and I've been chasing that high ever since, and am fortunate to have moved through the school system with many teachers who nurtured my creativity. I "became a writer" officially when my first child was born in 2009 and I left my understimulating job with vague plans of becoming a freelance writer, and I'm so grateful that it actually worked out. 

GWR: What was the inspiration for Asking for a Friend?

KC: The inspirations for the novel were the women friends who've been among the great loves of my life, and I wanted to honour those relationships and acknowledge how fundamental they've been to who I am today. 

GWR: What do you have more fun with, character development or plot?

KC: Character is where it all starts for me, and discovering who Jess and Clara really were, and who they were in the process of becoming as the story progressed was such a fascinating process. I was also really interested in how a friendship is not a parallel journey, that characters weave in and out of each other's life—that sometimes Jess and Clara need each other and other times their connection is just too much to be withstood. And the plot comes from that, these little earthquakes that can break worlds apart or bring them back together again. 

GWR: Why did you decide to write the book third person perspective? Was it easier or more challenging to write it this way?

KC: Third person was the only way it ever was! I think a bit of distance from each character was necessary in order to show that this whole novel belongs to both of them, always, even though the chapters alternate between their different points of view. 

GWR: I loved the nod to Summer Sisters—what significance does that book hold for you?

KC: I still have my original hardcover copy, and my mom and my sister have theirs too. It was very much a book we read together, a bonding experience, and when I reread it during the summer of 2022, I was thrilled that it still holds up. I'm quite excited that it's having a moment with a rerelease and celebration as a "Read with Jenna" book selection! There is something so ephemeral and yet ETERNAL about summer, and stories of friendship in a summer setting, and while I didn't set out to write a book that had such a structure, there turned out to be some real commonalities! 

GWR: You’ve captured many facets and types of relationships—heartbreak, isolation, love, growing apart, marriage, motherhood, friendship—why were these connections important to write about? What do your female relationships mean to you? 

KC: I was really interested in the ways that experiences of motherhood and maternity—and just even having the capacity to get pregnant—can draw friends together and also drive them apart. We hear a lot about a divide between women who have children and those who don't, but it's even much more complicated and nuanced than that. And even among women who do become pregnant, there exist an infinite number of different choices, possibilities and outcomes for how things turn out. Some of it is about choices, so much of it isn't, and it all results in inevitable tension that's just ripe for exploring in fiction. I am grateful to have had long friendships that haven't meant everything to me, and I'm also grateful to be twenty years past the tumult of our 20s, which were filled with so many changes and when every decision or choice felt impossibly weighted (and personal, even when those choices or decision were somebody else's!). I'm happy to be older, more confident and wise enough to know that there are so many different ways to a build a life. It's all just a little bit easier now. 

GWR: What other authors write female friendships well?

KC: Well, Judy Blume, obviously! What's wonderful about Summer Sisters is that we get her incredible insight about friendship (as demonstrated in books like Just as Long as We're Together, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, Blubber, and others) but in a story that moves from girlhood to adulthood. I also love the way that Margaret Drabble writes about friendship in her 1987 novel The Radiant Way. And I LOVE Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell so very much. And absolutely beautiful (and sad!) memoir about friendship is Anita Lahey's recent book, The Last Goldfish. 

GWR: What do you hope readers take away from Asking for a Friend?

KC: I hope that every reader has a friend that the book puts them in mind of, and that they might be inspired to get in touch again if it's been a while, and—even if it hasn't been—maybe send that friend a copy! 

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be?

KC: It would be a warm cup of ginger tea served in a beloved mug. (Thank goodness for editors—I had so many notes in earlier drafts about sips of tea my characters took that would definitely have burned their tongues. In the final version, Jess and Clara take a bit more time to get their tea cool...) 

GWR: Can you share what you are working on now?

KC: I was fortunate to get to answer your questions before way back when my previous novel came out in 2020, and I remember letting you know I was working on a project called Asking for a Friend, which seemed scary to actually type and put out into the world with no real certainty that it would ever see the light of day. AND HERE WE ARE! So I'll cross my fingers, hope for the best, and let you know that I've been working on a novel that's like if an Emily Henry book had a baby with a Katherine Heiny book, and its spinster aunt was Barbara Pym. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.