This author is a master. In this book, he manages to combine current social issues with historical fiction and monsters. It is horror, which I like a great deal, but somehow this is not what you traditionally think of as being horror. It's a historical fiction novel, with some weight to it, that also happens to have a monster (or a few). Plus not all monsters are the kinds with wings and scales and whatnot. Some (a lot) of the human characters in this novel also turn out to be monsters. It makes for a good story.

I would definitely recommend this. Especially if you enjoy historical fiction. And the non-human monsters don't give you nightmares.

Lone Women is a damn near perfect blend of mystery, historical fiction and horror! As a fan of all three genres, I was not passing on the chance to read this one. This book was very interesting and extremely fast paced. I was riveted from the very first page: a scene that establishes a very mysterious and uneasy tone for the rest of the book. The setting of this novel was like travelling back through history to a time where most of us today probably wouldn't have survived. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the horror aspect. However, after going back and forth and thinking on this for quite some time, I realized that the true horror in this novel wasn't necessarily what lurked inside Adelaide's locked trunk. It was the true ugliness that lurked inside people's minds and hearts. The fear of living as a "lone woman" without protection or of surviving through the winter without food or proper shelter from the cold. The terror of being strung up by a lynch mob because you were different or didn't fit in. Just a few examples of what people really experienced during this time period. This book was extremely thought provoking and very well written. It will stay with me for a very long time.

Thank you to the author, Random House and NetGalley for allowing me access to this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Adelaide Henry is starting over. Now that her parents are dead, she's decided to leave their family farm in California and get her own homestead started in the wilds of Montana. But she's not alone. She's bringing her heavy steamer trunk, locked with a padlock, housing a horrific curse that haunts her family line. Will Montana be desolate enough to keep the curse from hurting anyone else? Or will it take Adelaide down no matter how far she runs from her past?

Okay I LOVED this story!! The atmosphere is gothic and flawless, combined with a historical western setting that makes the "creep" factor even more pronounced. There are ghost towns, blind children, and horse thieves aplenty, plus strong women scratching out independent lives for themselves in an inhospitable wilderness. It is a <i>fantastic</i> novel with a fun horror twist that I would recommend to everyone!

Thank you to Victor LaValle, One World, and NetGalley for my print and digital advance copies.

Loved this book from beginning to the end. The slowish burn from the beginning made the rest of the book well worth it. I will recommend this one to everyone I know!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

There are two kinds of people in this world:those who live with shame and those who die from it. On Tuesday, Adelaide Henry would've called herself the former, but by Wednesday she wasn't as sure.

Those first lines were all it took to get me hooked onto this story. How do I describe a book that had the feeling of historical fiction mixed with horror and suspense and western and literary fiction?

Quite simply, Lone Women might just be the best book of 2023. I love a book with strong female characters and this book had so many-Adelaide, Grace, Bertie, Fiona, Mrs.Reed etc. They were all unapologetic about who they were and I loved that!

Yeah, I was very impressed with this book.

Goodreads review published 03/03/23
Expected Publication Date 28/03/23
#LoneWomen #NetGalley.

For those who are looking for something different, this story is intriguing with a glimpse of history.

It’s an original plot that transports the reader back to 1915 when 27 Black families in California’s Lucerne Valley signed up to homestead several acres. Adelaide Henry helped her parents farm the land to survive.

Then everything changed when something unexpected happened and 31-year-old Adelaide rushed to set their house on fire with her parents inside. She left the farm with $154 in her pocket, a travel bag and a very heavy trunk. She was now a fugitive.

In Seattle, she purchased a one-room shack with an outhouse and land in a small town of Montana close to the Canadian border. The real estate agent thought this might be risky for a single woman but she was okay with it.

The heavy trunk went into a wagon for the trip and she got inside with another family of five. Everyone wanted to know what was inside the locked trunk – including me. Later in the story, it’s revealed. Adelaide had more courage than I can imagine for a woman settling in a place close to thieves, cowboys and lots of wild animals.

While I enjoyed the story, I realize it’s fiction and some parts are clearly out there. Could a woman survive on her own in very cold weather and very little money if any? I wanted to know more. It transports you to a time when there was a lot of prejudice against the Native Americans, Blacks and Chinese immigrants. It would make a good book club discussion.

My thanks to Victor LaValle, One World and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of March 28, 2023.

Wow! Completely unexpected! After visiting Montana recently for the first time, I was excited to read a book set there. Bonus that it was set in homesteading times AND that it was about a woman doing it alone. A black woman, to boot. So, all the things against Adelaide Henry. To top it off, she’s bringing her own burden with her completely unrelated to everything else. She learns to survive, to rely on other women trying to survive, and that maybe her burden isn’t one. Such a good story. Adversity and perseverance. Women supporting women. Survival against all odds. You’ll want to read this one.

OMG, amazing!! Historical fiction at its finest with some horror thrown in. Adelaide Henry literally and figuratively carries her burden and responsibility around like an overweight steamer trunk. Imagine being a tall, strapping, black woman, alone in the 1900s carrying around a monstrous secret. A powerful story of strength and survival. This was an atmospheric read told by a skilled storyteller, I was transported to the 1900s. It was easy to imagine the desolation of the vast, sparsely populated, gritty, and unforgiving landscape of Montana and feel the varied emotions of each character. ‘A woman is a mule’. Thanks so much, Random House and #Netgalley!

This is not a typical genre I read but since I was hearing a lot of good things about it, I decided to read it. The story started very strong, and you are pulled in, curious to know why Adelaide is fleeing and what’s in that trunk she guards so much. You get some of the answers about halfway through the book and that’s when things slow down a little. This could be a drawback for some, but I was still very interested where the whole story was going. Overall, this historical horror is a great read.
Thank you NetGalley, Random House and the author for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Lone Women" by Victor LaVelle is positively exceptional. It seamlessly blends different genres such as horror, historical fiction, and fantasy into a compelling story of survival. It is packed with strong female characters and carries an undertone of feminism throughout the entire book. Though this book is one heck of an entertaining read, at its core is a scathing social commentary on racism, inequality, and greed. It is also a book about how women who stand together are stronger than when they go it alone.

Adelaide Henry arrives in sparsely settled Montana to homestead and make a life for herself, after torching her family home with her parents' bodies inside. However, she does not arrive alone, but with a secret that will both tear the small town of Big Sandy apart and bind the lives of four women and a child together. Life in this Montana town is very difficult and, at times, utterly horrifying.

'Lone Women" is a quick read with short chapters, and is one that I just could not put down. And I loved the ending! This was my first Victor LaVelle novel, but it definitely will not be my last. Five bright shiny stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this fabulous book, in exchange for my honest review.

"History is simple. The past is complicated."

A couple months ago I mentioned really craving a western story. Well, this book DELIVERED.

It has a diverse cast, rather than just rugged cowboys and frontier men, it centers on a Black woman who is homesteading on the inhospitable Montana frontier. The story also includes a Chinese woman working to settle herself, as well as a strong single mother and her young son, and a Black woman who makes some bomb ass beer. Love to read it.

This book even takes it a step further in the interest department and throws in a fun little creature feature twist. It provides a bit of gore and scary action scenes.

At times the pace is slow, but the alternating perspectives kept things flowing. This story takes place during a brutal time in history when outlaws are prevalent, people are working to survive any way they can, and the wild setting of undeveloped Montana really raises the stakes.

Memorable story with spectacular writing. I loved the fmc and the storyline of historical fiction and horror. I’d love to see this into a movie.

We first meet Adelaide as she travels across the country from California to Montana to claim a homestead as her own. She carries a large, heavy steamer trunk that she whispers to along the way. That alone was enough to get me sucked into this book. What is in that trunk???

It's 1914 and the barren, desperate climate of Montana will take its toll on anyone, especially a young, black woman, alone, trying to survive. She does meet some other women like her, all without husbands, and trying to make a name for themselves in this harsh landscape. Soon mysterious deaths start occurring which at first are blamed on the harsh winter, but soon become too commonplace to be coincidental.
They bond together as sisters to fight the elements, the local townspeople, and literal and figurative demons. This book is a rare combination of multiple genres-history, historical fiction, and horror.

There are so many great characters in this book-the family with the 4 boys, the Mudges, who are not what they seem; Fiona and Bertie; Grace and her son Sam; and the Reeds, the town's matriarch and patriarch. The Reeds think they have everything figured out, but haven't met the match of Adelaide and her troupe of Lone Women.
I visualize this as similar to the recent Amazon show, 'The English', which I highly recommend as well.

Getting to read unique books like this before everyone else is a privilege! Thank you NetGalley, Victor LaValle, and One World press! What a great story!

This book was just okay for me. There were some redeemable qualities: unique storyline, perfect blend of historical fiction and horror, I enjoyed the main character and it is impressive how we get such a detailed story with only 300 pages. I could definitely see where this author has a fanbase and would be loved! However, it just wasn't a story I would generally gravitate to, so I feel I'm not the right audience for it. As you can see, there are many raving, 5 star reviews, so take my opinion with a grain of salt!

I thought the book started out great. I was immediately intrigued, but I started drifting and losing focus in the middle, so by the end I was just ready to finish the story. Like I said, the writing was impeccable. Just don't feel like the book was for me.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

Definitely enjoyed this strong women read, not sure that I would list as horror. Didn’t not give me chills or creeps in any way. The “scary” element is more of a mystery until revealed and written well. However to me it wasn’t the main focus. Lone women moving to Montana, given 320 acres and must prove the land within 3 years and it’s theirs. More of a story of a lone negro woman and the people she encounters on this journey and the hardships she faces/overcomes. I definitely enjoyed it!! Have seen some comparisons to Devil calls you home and this was way better than that book for me!!! Will be recommending!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House publishing for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!!

A murderer or martyr, a desperate woman for sure. Trekking out to the Montana plains on her own is a feat in itself, but the burden she carries could literally kill her and those around her. An interesting story, one definitely good for Halloween, that took unexpected turns and kept me guessing. Not really my cup of tea but the writing is worthy and the plot curious nonetheless.

After the horrific deaths of her parents, a young woman flees her California homestead, carrying her family's secret, for the remote solitude of Montana.

What is in the very heavy, locked trunk? That is one of the gripping mysteries in Victor LaValle’s unputdownable novel LONE WOMEN. We meet Adelaide Henry, a 31-year-old Black woman in 1915, setting fire to her family's home in California. A home with her parents’ bloodied bodies in it. Based on a clipping about a lone woman journeying to Montana to homestead land due to a loophole in the law, Adelaide takes her secrets with her as she escapes with her massive trunk on a rugged trip all the way to a remote town in Montana. Montana is not California, and Adelaide comes to grips with the bleak, harshness of the land and the western people. While seemingly to be accepted in this small town, Adelaide is on guard not only because of a secret she must keep, but also because she is a lone woman, a Black one, an outsider. As the story unfolds, well-defined characters of the “good people” of the town, the other lone women, the outlaws, the town leaders reveal deeper secrets and horrors in their lives.

This writer’s genre-melding writing blends and weaves the best of western, horror, women’s fiction, supernatural, suspense-mystery, as well as gender and equality, and at times mythical styles. His masterful writing conveys superbly the often-laconic words and thoughts of the characters as creepy, horrific events occur. And yet the issues of isolation and longing – and belonging, especially of lone women at that time and place, as well as jolting family and community dynamics are woven seamlessly throughout these pages. The questions of “Who is family?” and “Who are the real monsters?” linger, as do the last lines of the book.

From the first paragraph, this book had me hooked and I could not put it down. While I had never read anything by this fine writer, I intend to rectify that and explore his writings – and hope for more from him in the future. I am grateful to Random House, NetGalley, and Victor LaValle for giving me early access to this exceptional book. This opinion is all my own.

I need to go back and read more of Victor LaValle's books because this was absolute golden and the right amount of historically horror.

Wonderfully Mysterious and Very Entertaining . . .

Will that lock hold? This is the question that stands between life and death for Adelaide Henry. We all have baggage from childhood and Adelaide is all alone on a quest, burdened by vivid memories that are heavier than most. In a very literal sense, she sets out to build a new life in a strange and eerie expanse of Montana whilst dragging a steamer trunk full of her secret and haunted past. A hard lesson that begs to prove no matter where you go, there you are.

In great need of solace and isolation, her search fueled by dwindling savings and her strong will, she desperately believes that hiding herself and her secrets away in the middle of a harsh landscape will somehow be the answer. An epic reckoning is brewing. Someday soon Adelaide will eventually have to confront all of her guilt and her fears when the past refuses to stay confined in a box any longer.

What private hell lurks inside that locked trunk? What gruesome reality has she kept hidden there from the world all of these years? A single latch keeps it there . . . will that lock hold?

Find out on March 28, 2023!

I'd like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of Lone Women for my unbiased evaluation.  5 stars