Forty-six years ago, seven women left behind the lives they knew and created a commune in the Adirondack Mountains which they called “A Woman’s Place.” According to award-winning author Lorraine Duvall, from 1974 to 1982 A Woman’s Place served as a refuge for self-discovery and changed the lives of hundreds of women.

Duvall’s latest book, Finding A Woman’s Place: The Story of a 1970s Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks examines the fascinating history of this unique place, a safe harbor for hundreds of women during the tumultuous times of what is referred to as the second wave of feminism. She brings a viewpoint to the story of both an active participant, attending a retreat at A Woman’s Place in 1974, and as a researcher examining historical documents and locating the principal founders and organizers of the commune.

“It was not always easy,” Duvall says. “Young women struggled with their identities, they struggled with their place in the world and they sometimes struggled with each other as they banded together to, without the interference of men, grow their own vegetables, repair their own vehicles and solder the pipes that had shattered in the brutal Adirondack winters.”

The author’s two previous books, And I Know Too Much to Pretend and In Praise of Quiet Waters: Finding Solitude and Adventures in the Wild Adirondacks have both been award winners. Lorraine Duvall is a resident of Keene, and an occasional contributor to the Adirondack Almanack since 2014.

Finding A Woman’s Place: The Story of a 1970s Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks is published by Bloated Toe Enterprises. The paperback is 223 pages with 67 illustrations, and costs $20. It is available where books are sold in the Adirondacks and online at North Country Authors.