Note from Weston Blelock: Tad Crawford was born August 8, 1946, in Briarcliff Manor, NY. The family moved to Woodstock four years later. Growing up, Tad bonded with the town’s creative crowd, played chess, wrote for a literary magazine, and hiked beautiful Overlook Mountain with his father, Jack, a journalist, poet, and professor of literature at SUNY New Paltz. A Woman in the Wild, a new novel by Tad, is reviewed here by guest blogger Olivia Twine, a lifelong Woodstocker and cultural writer in the Hudson Valley. 

“. . . . It was a miracle that he was saved from the wilderness alive. When pursued, he ran with unnatural speed, often on all fours. The constables shot dozens of tranquilizer darts that missed their mark. In the end, the two that brought him down might have just been lucky shots . . . The image of the wild man unconscious and restrained on a stretcher carried by two strong men was broadcast across the country.”

In his riveting novel, A Woman in the Wild, Tad Crawford presents a tour of self-discovery and forgiveness and shows how perseverance in the face of uncertainty enhances life regardless of the immediate outcome. Several characters with aching frailties play supporting roles in the healing process of the protagonist, Thea, a psychotherapist struggling with recalcitrant guilt and sorrow stemming from a past mistake. Seeking relief, Thea enters a comforting mountain retreat, The Institute for Transformation and Healing. Learning to recognize her flaws while helping others, Thea experiences kinship and finds a friend within herself.

All participants in this mutually healing endeavor come to life, be they human, animal, natural, or aesthetic architectural creations. The author’s compassionate character development—spiced with mysteries to be solved, perhaps, over the top of the next hill—make this unpredictable book an enticing read. Braided narratives unfold clearly, in palatable chapters. There are no cliches. Each character is distinct and astonishing. Some approach the limit of the reader’s tolerance for breached norms but understanding and forgiveness are within reach.

Startlingly candid, Thea reveals early on that she failed to protect her daughter, Delphina, from sexual abuse when the girl was a teenager. Now 51 years old, Thea is faced with her adult daughter’s absolute rejection of all attempts to communicate, apologize and make peace. Although Thea has long functioned as a capable professional in a busy urban world, estrangement from her only child has left her feeling lost and immobilized with confusion. An empathetic reader may forgive Thea, although that’s more difficult for her daughter. The mother hopes that her hard-earned accountability will open the door to reconciliation someday.

Thea is well acquainted with Andreas, the director of the institute, her former teacher and mentor. Although he has invited her confidences and has some ghosts to share with her as well, Thea needs a few weeks to center herself before she can discuss her turmoil with him. On daily hikes she distracts herself by contemplating the variable cadence of time, nature’s agency, how to communicate with the silent Lucas, and the healing effects of creativity, among other ideas. 

Her healing journey takes a radical turn when she becomes linked to the mysterious, profoundly wounded, speechless, heavily sedated “wild man” who spent nine months in the forest with a bear before being captured and delivered to the institute. She is fascinated by news reports of the man formerly known as Lucas Lamont, the director of a small non-profit, who brought urban youth to the outdoors. Upon the death of Lamont’s wife following a lingering illness, instead of hosting a long-planned life celebration, Lamont disappears.

Thea read the news report of his discovery by a hunter. “. . . I saw the opening to the cave,” he said, choosing his words with care. “I wanted to go in but something, a sixth sense maybe, warned me not to. I stayed at the entrance and slowly moved my rifle across the cave. Filthy, naked, crouching in the darkness, he didn’t look like a man. He was emaciated, starving maybe, but alert like a wild animal. I was afraid he might rush at me. I kept my eyes from meeting his. Acting as if I hadn’t seen anything, I backed away. I could barely keep myself from running. I’ll never forget those eyes.”

Asked about the symbolism of the bear, the author responded, “The bear is certainly a symbol of the mysterious unknown, not just in outer nature, but also in our natures. It suggests that we possess a kindly helper who will take our side in the worst of times.”

The sight of the wild man lying on a mattress in a small windowless room at the Institute reminds Thea of a “ghostly beluga whale” she had once seen swimming endless laps in an aquarium. Thea tells Andreas how the wild man’s chances for recovery could be improved. Andreas assigns Thea the responsibility of directing the wild man’s treatment. She wants to take him on hikes, unlikely given the heavy sedation from which he must be weaned. She wonders if the wild man and the bear are looking for each other, if the bear might suddenly appear. Thea talks to Lucas, asks him what he wants, what he’s thinking. Any response is imaginatively perceived, but Thea hopes he hears her and feels her caring for him.

Crawford’s insightful descriptions of nature, people, relationships, and the physical design of the center, including a landmark sun dial at the center of the institute’s five buildings, each named for a great continental river, make this book unforgettable. Mysteries left unsolved in this novel will be revealed when the first (The Cave of Forever) and third (The Mysterious Velocity of Love) volumes of The Orpheus Trilogy are published. ++

~ Olivia M. Twine

845-706-0540 [email protected], 5 Juniper Lane, Woodstock, NY 12498

Olivia M. Twine is a writer who covers cultural events for regional publications. Her multi-media project for the Historical Society of Woodstock, “Standing on Their Shoulders,” earned a 2021 Engaging Communities Award from The Museum Association of New York.

A Woman in the Wild, novel by Tad Crawford, 328 pages, Arcade, Skyhorse Publishing Inc. New York, New York, 2025.