Spooky Western spooky Western spooky Western!!! I love a spooky Western, and this one was very good, sort of a mashup of Midnight Mass and a frontier survival story. I think the writing style isn’t quite for me, and some of the characters felt a little underdeveloped or two-dimensional, but I’m fully obsessed with the “demon” lore of this book, and Elizabeth is fantastic. I will be thinking about her for a long time. LONE WOMEN made me curious to pick up more books by this author, and I suspect longtime Victor LaValle fans will be stoked about this one.

What kind of crazy is Victor LaValle? If you’ve read any of his work, you understand I mean this in the most respectful and loving way possible. The man’s mind is full of treasures that contain horror, terror and unexpected humor. This is a family tale, or more precisely a sister yarn. How much do we owe our sibling? How commitment can one be to see a sibling live the life that is deserved no matter the circumstances of birth? Adelaide is weighed down by her sister, in fact she shouldered this weight all her life. Adelaide’s parents selfishly burdened her with caring and looking after, Elizabeth.

Was that a cruel move by Adelaide and Elizabeth’s parents? Well as we travel through the bizarre mind of Victor LaValle, and the story begins to unfold, we are faced with the question of “what would I do?” And I’m telling you, this contemplation is the engine behind this great, yes great novel! And when we come face to face with a family that dealt with similar circumstances, but had a vastly different approach that contemplation in our head gets louder and maybe you have changed your original answer to the seminal question.

In any event, this is a wild and scary tale, told with great aplomb and you will not put this book down until the very end! Victor LaValle has done it again, the best fiction I’ve read this year and it’s not even close!

Special thanks to Oneworld and Netgalley for an advanced digital copy! Book drops March 21, 2023

Western Horror full of twists and turns? Obviously this was amazing.

I LOVED The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom so I was pretty excited for an opportunity to read this early. It ended being my favorite LaValle so far!

Honestly this book is best entered blind so I'm not going to describe the plot much. I didn't even read a synopsis and I was thrilled with how much I was stunned by events.

We open with a scene of Adelaide Henry setting her home on fire with her dead parents inside and heading out to a claim in Montana with a mysterious and unnaturally heavy trunk. It's a slow burn to begin with but with just enough tantalizing horror hints and twists to keep you glued until things really ramp up.

Twisty and creepy, great atmosphere and well-written characters and setting. Highly recommend if you're already a LaValle fan or looking for a place to start.

I'm continuously shocked when I get an email offering me an ARC I haven't requested 😅 Thanks, Netgalley

I'm so torn about this book because on one hand I thought Lone Women was SO GOOD, but on the other hand it was formatted SO POORLY. I'm not talking about the actual text formatting or sentence structure or anything like that -- no, the flow of the chapters themselves would really benefit from a complete restructure. For example, Adelaide is the only character (with a single exception) that we read from the point of view of in the entire first part of the book, but parts two and three are a mix of several characters, some of which had never been on the page before that part of the novel. If those chapters had been mixed in beforehand, the shift would have been so much smoother. Similarly, sometimes the narration would jump into omniscient view and talk about the history of the town that the particular POV character wouldn't know, or the future of the characters, but that wouldn't hold true when the scope was narrowed back down to the characters themselves.

That aside, Lone Women was a fascinatingly unique little novel about the various horrors on the Montana plains in the early 1900s. Adelaide Henry comes out to Montana with a single suitcase and the weight of the world on her shoulders, which is apparent in the distrustful way she treats nearly everyone. LaValle really does a wonderful job portraying Adelaide's state of mind throughout the novel, and it's almost a shame to have to read chapters in the POV of characters like Mrs. Reed or Joab Mudge when Adelaide is so compelling. However, I do love when authors write from the POV of the "monster", and LaValle sprinkled a little of that in, so I'll forgive him.

I don't want to say too much about the novel because I think it genuinely is the kind of book that works better when you get to experience the twists on your own. If I had to make any criticism (not including the formatting issues as mentioned above), it would be that I would have loved to see a few more horror elements mixed in, and a little more explanation on the Tepoztlán aspect introduced later in the novel, but otherwise I was very pleasantly surprised by this!

3.5 out of 5 stars, but rounding up to 4, cause why not?

I defy you to find a more gripping opening chapter this year. Read the first page and you might not be able to put it down for quite some time.

I first read Victor LaValle when he released Big Machine in 2009. I went into it not knowing anything about the book, and I kept waiting for there to be a logical explanation for all the supernatural happenings. When none came, I was disappointed. Preconceived notions ruined my experience.

This time, I knew what I was getting into, and I was along for the ride. LaValle layers the secrets, uncovering little by little as all is revealed in the end. I have a feeling this one will top quite a few lists when it's released next spring.

I was gripped right from the start, I wanted to know what was happening, more about Adelaide, more about her doings and surroundings. I loved every minute of reading this book, it was my third book by LaValle and I think my favorite so far.

Wow - what an incredible story! This was my first foray into the long fiction of Victor LaValle (I know, I know) and I'm blown away.

From the very first page, I was hooked. The setting, the characters, and especially the urgency of the plot in the first chapters, it was all incredible. The chapters are short, quick bursts of fast-paced action, and I simply couldn't put this book down. Every new character that was introduced was someone I could root for, or hate, or in some cases, both.

LaValle deftly weaves together various narratives that immerse his readers in this world. I felt like I was living on the plains of Montana with Adelaide and Bertie and Fiona. Their story of strength in the face overwhelming odds was simply perfect.

Highly recommend this book to all, horror fans and not.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle was a very solid read.
This was my first Victor LaValle book, and honestly I'm in love with his writing.
I thought the writing was very good, everything just worked so well. The flow was also great.
The story was captivating and very interesting. I was immediately hooked.
The history and characterization was just stunning.
I loved everything about this book.
He's a master, and this was a delight to read.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Random House & One World,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Lone Women landed in my lap after the publisher reached out to let me know that I was pre-approved for an advanced copy. I share this only because I may not have selected this book on my own, but I’m very glad that I received it and was able to read it.

Lone Women tells the tale of Adeleine Henry, who leaves California on her own, with nothing but a steamer truck. She secures herself a small homestead in Montana. Can we just pause here? I can’t even begin to imagine the bravery this young black woman had to travel alone and settle in an isolated place. How will she eat? What will she tell people? Will she get lonely? How will she make a living? Anyway, moving on. The story unfolds and builds mystery around this steamer truck that she keeps with her at all times, never opening.

I can’t say much more without spoilers, but suffice it to say that I enjoyed a lot of this book. I loved watching Adeline forge her own path, build relationships, manage stess. I think the character development around Bertie Brown, Mrs Wong, Mr & Mrs Reed, Mrs Price, Sam and Joab was remarkably well done. There were components of this story that were very odd to me, almost eye-roll worthy, but the strength of characters and the conclusion of the story made it, in my opinion, a solid 4-star read.

Review of Advance Reader’s Copy eBook

She’s packed a single travel bag . . . and a mysterious, locked steamer trunk. Everything else stays behind on the family farm.

Thirty-one-year-old Adelaide Henry is on her way from California’s Lucerne Valley to Montana where the government offers free land for anyone who can cultivate it. It’s a long and arduous trip, but she now calls a twelve-foot by twelve-foot cabin near Big Sandy home. Here she makes her home. Here she struggles to survive.

Will it be far enough away to hide her secret? Or will the truth win out at last?

=========

History meets an imaginative horror as a group of lone women set out to become homesteaders, finding strength in surprising places. Set on the American frontier early in the twentieth century, the struggle to survive is omnipresent in the telling of this tale. The world here is harsh, the bleak landscape of Montana made even more so by some who see only what they want for themselves.

Adelaide has an inner strength [perhaps from her years of keeping the family secret] that serves her well as she moves relentlessly forward. Populated with well-drawn characters, especially Grace, Sam, Bertie, and Fiona, the unfolding saga takes some unexpected twists and offers readers a few surprises along the way to a particularly satisfying denouement.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Random House Publishing Group – Random House, One World and NetGalley
#LoneWomen #NetGalley

I’ve read two Western horror books this month and I must say I am hooked. There’s something about the old west that makes horror seem natural, like something that of course would be part of the landscape. “Lone Women” follows Adelaide Henry as she flees her childhood home, which she’s set on fire with her dead parents inside. She drags a massive steamer trunk and a travel bag as she sets out to homestead in Montana, which allows women to claim land.

Victor LaValle weaves in a number of interesting historic details into the story, such as the Black farm settlements in Southern California’s Lucerne Valley, and Montana’s role as a leader in women’s suffrage. Since the book is set in 1914, Adelaide is referred to as Negro and for her it is hard for her not to see herself reflected in every face she sees. She needs to adapt to being different. The people of Big Sandy don’t seem to care if she’s Black (there’s another Black woman in town who has a lot of power because she runs the town still:) They’re just happy to have someone new in town.

But things get complicated quickly. The contents of Adelaide’s trunk begins to create trouble, doubled by her acquaintance with a creepy family. I do not want to give anything away because “Lone Women” is filled with surprises.

Adelaide is a marvelous character, as are the other women she meets. The men are pretty fleshed out until, bang! They go bad fast and turn into vigilantes. It would have been nice to see more nuance there.

“Lone Women” is a terrific reading experience. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for digital access to this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I adore LaValle's The Changeling. It's easily one of the best dark fantasy novels I've ever read. I can't wait for the adaptation.

So, when I had the chance to read Victor's new one, I went in blind.

That was my mistake.

Lone Women is a weird western. It's a decent one, but weird westerns have shown time and again that they're just not for me.

I just found myself mildly uninterested throughout. Forget everything you've read here and find The Changeling

This was an interesting book, and I overall felt that the story was good but there were some things that lacked. Some of the dialogue was a bit off and a few of the characters really made me roll my eyes several times.

Thanks to Random House, One World and NetGalley for the chance to read and review Victor LaValle's 'Lone Women.'

There's no hanging around with Victor LaVelle - we're thrown right into the heart of the story, the mystery, and the action of 'Lone Women' and that momentum doesn't flag. I read this in two sittings over the course of 24 hours - you're absolutely dragged along at his speed whether you like it or not and although the pace is fast, the mysteries are revealed and questions answered deliciously slowly.

It's a fabulous combination of horror, western, historical social and racial commentary, and absolute and a very major and satisfyingly unresolved mystery.

It's a story - as is obvious from the book's title - of women in the early 20th century frontier and their struggles to survive and features both the good and evil side of those struggles - not every woman in the book is a noble struggler, in fact they all have flaws but some are definitely more flawed than others. As well as the racism (anti-Black and anti-indigenous) the main character, Adelaide, experiences throughout, there's good old-fashioned misogyny, there's an early taste of transphobia and homophobia, as well as your garden variety of classism which thrived.

It reminded me of so many things, written and filmed including the TV version of Colson Whitehead's 'Underground Railroad' (more than the novel) for it's otherworldliness anchored in the very real and harsh world and though not as brutal, Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridien' for it's depiction of the harshness of the frontier and its people,

Great horror and history.

LONE WOMEN by Victor Lavalle, is an incisive examination of family, the boundaries of self-reliance, the American frontier ethos, justice, and guilt. It's inescapably dark, with elusive elements of horror that run the gamut from ghosts and hauntings to cryptids and demons made flesh, and yet, as is always the case, perhaps it is the people who are the most terrifying all along.

Adelaide Henry flees her home in California for the homesteading wilds of Montana, lugging a steamer trunk along on the journey. In Montana, she finds the desolation and isolation of the American frontier in the early 20th century, navigates being black in a landscape that is mostly not, and being a single (lone) woman, as well. Along the way, Adelaide discovers it's impossible to outrun your past, and indeed the shame and sins you bury will ultimately demand a reckoning, and meets many and more people who learn that lesson as well.

The experience, especially at the beginning of the book, is relentlessly tense. Lavalle grips you by the throat just tight enough to be uncomfortable, and doesn't let go until the Adelaide starts to feel at ease, when he allows the tension to wane just long enough for things to start going wrong again and the grip to tighten once more. The book is tagged by the publisher as "gothic horror," and that description is apt for the slow and foreboding tone that is set on the first page.

I received a copy from the publisher, unsolicited, "given [my] appreciation of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s MEXICAN GOTHIC." I'm quite honestly not sure how or why that popped into my inbox the other day, but it was a welcome way to spend my weekend. LONE WOMEN is set to release on March 21, 2023, so there's plenty of time for you to line up your preorders.

I am letting others know that I enjoyed this novel but am advising them not to look at spoilers or synopses, as it was rewarding to let the mystery remain for a while at the start,

The opening was so eerie and intriguing that I kept going even though I had not intended to read the book right then, and it ended up being a thoughtful novel that developed in ways that were not what I'd expected. I have enjoyed this author's previous work and look forward to his next. Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for this arc of Lone Women.

This was a great read….wildly original, thought provoking , with lots of forward momentum. Definitely interested in reading more of LaValle’s work—I was only familiar with—and a huge fan of his graphic novel Frankenstein update!

How does Victor LaValle do this! I am mad at myself for gulping this book down, but I could not slow myself. At one point I had to say go slower, go slower, you are getting to the end, and I was not able to slow down. I needed a great horror book and LaValle per usual delivers. The characters are so damn good. The writing is lyrical. The flow is top-notch. The setting is perfect (Montana in the 1900s). The ending is too. I got nothing to quibble about. I would warn people though that this is horror novel, so there is some blood and other things that may make you squeamish as a reader. 

"Lone Women" follows 31 year old Adelaide Henry. Adelaide seems to be on the run from something. Leaving behind her family farm and the secrets it holds, she leaves with nothing but a traveling bag and a steamer trunk. She decides to leave California for the state of Montana because she has read clippings before about how a lone woman can end up settling and gaining land in that state. And she hopes it is far away enough to hide her secrets. Of course, things don't go as planned, and Adelaide ends up having to decide to tell the truth of her family to her new friends or keep running.

Adelaide was great. I felt for her. A woman in her thirties who was tied to her parents (unwilling) because of a dark secret. A Black (or Negro woman as she is referred to in the story) has very few options in 1914 in America, but she is determined to still go on, though part of her wonders why she is bothering. Her traveling by ship to Seattle and then by train to Montana shows how tough she is. 

The other characters we meet, Bertie Brown and Fiona and Grace and her child Sam are wonderful. I loved Bertie and Fiona and wanted a short story about them and how they met. Grace and Sam and the secrets they shared were a surprise, but of course you realize this is why they were drawn to Adelaide and she to them. I am still surprised that LaValle is able to bring all of these people to life in just a little over 200 pages. Not a word is wasted. We also get some other characters who you learn to worry about since some learn Adelaide's secret, like the Mudges, and then the Reed's

The writing was fantastic. At times it may seem a bit repetitive, but it's because Adelaide is left haunted by the words her mother did and did not say to her. And at times, her mother's ghost walks besides her. 

The setting of Montana in this time period was bleak. It seems like anything could and would kill you. And you can see how many flocked to the Reed's and the couple's supposed charity. But of course all charity comes with strings. I also thought it was great that LaValle is able to show how Adelaide how to carry herself differently in Montana since she was Black. Even though all of the people she meets at one point are white. I was surprised a bit by her "romance" in the book because I wondered how something like that would have been taken back then. In the end though it ended up not mattering much. 

The ending was great. I loved the idea behind it and smiled. Fantastic read! 5 stars!

Loved it! This book gave me "Midnight Mass" vibes with some great representation included. This was something that I might not have normally picked up, but I am glad that I did.