THE 411...

This is turning out to be my year of reading dark atmospheric books in the Summer and so far I'm loving it. Victor Lavalle's feminist tale of a woman traveling to Montana with nothing but an old steam trunk builds the tension and mystery from the very first page. We meet Adelaide Henry minutes before setting her house on fire with her parents in it. Immediately I'm thinking will she prove to be an unreliable narrator orrrrr did this really just happen? and what could possibly motivate her to do this?

The year is 1915 and the United States is offering homesteading opportunities to groups otherwise denied a chance to own home/land in order to develop the frontier. Adelaide finds and advertisement with an offer and begins her travels which lead her to an area in Montana with other single women. She was looking to keep a low profile after leaving her burning childhood home but what she found was others like her looking to keep their secrets buried. Adelaide's steamer trunk is padlocked, we don't know what's in it. We just know that Adelaide is attached to whatever is in it and that if it were to get out, it would most likely spell trouble for whoever is around it. The mystery of the trunk paired with the opening pages make it hard to put this story down for too long. 

WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK ADELAIDE?

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

Victor Lavalle's books have always been on my radar so when the DRC widget showed up in my inbox, I was hyped up. That being said, I took some time to gather my thoughts for a review simply because I wanted to make sure I got the vibe right. Slow paced and atmospheric this tale will have you sitting in your thoughts and doubting whether you can trust our MC. I found myself going back and forth on Adelaide's motives and just plain theorizing. I also had a chuckle or two over her desire to be left alone but also quietly enjoying the small group of women that like it or not are all in her business...this would 100% be me! c'mon cold Montana with its natural challenges couldn't have been easy, it makes sense they'd want to look out for one another. That the group also included another black woman who helped her with her hair was truly a heartwarming moment. The importance of community specifically between women is a theme we see woven throughout. Our MC had that in her small childhood community amongst other black families, the sense of loss and disconnect is deeply conveyed. 

Recommended for:

📜 Book Lovers who crave a Historical Fiction with horror in the mix

⚒️ Slow paced reads

📜 Character driven stories

⚒️ Atmosphere over plot

📜 Lastly, bad ass women holding it down and staking their claim on the land

I love historical fiction, and historical horror, and Western horror, and horror about complicated women-- so I loved this. A novel that takes seriously the weight the past, and the burden of secrets place on families across generations. Vivid and surreal and urgent!

Lone Women by Victor LaValle was an amazing book that I didn't want to put down! It lives up to and exceeds the expectations that I had based off of the synopsis. This book had some of the best elements (historical fiction, horror, fantasy, mystery) all of which were well executed and kept me wanting to read more. The characters were well developed and the world building wall sufficiently written in a way that I was able to visualize the scenery. I would definitely recommend this book.

This was so good, I devoured it. All my favorite fiction genres--historical fiction, horror, fantasy, mystery...the best kind of genre-defying. It starts out with a WHAT? and keeps adding more WHAT?! until the end. I think I have to read this author's backlist now.

"There are two kinds of people in the world, those who live with shame and those who die from it."

"Difficulties are meant to be overcome, not indulged.

After reading fellow reviewers of this novel, I can see I'm not alone in having trouble in defining and reviewing this. I will say, it should say, All who enter hear, suspend your belief and abandon reality.

i can relate the parts that are basically a historical rendering of a young black woman, in 1915, who travels to homestead and live on her property for a year in order to own said place. There are the regular demons, who take advantage of those they can, and those who will do anything to attain and hold power. BUT then there is that very heavy trunk, a trunk that is chained and locked, a trunk that follows her everywhere.

It starts with a grisly opening and on the whole this is a very violent and bloody story and not just because it is the old west where these things seemed to happen often. It is also very well written. And then of course there is that trunk.

Narration by Joni Abbott-Pratt and she was awesome.

I have heard a lot about Victor LaValle but have not read any of his writing before. I will definitely be reading more after this novel. The writing was engrossing and the book just scary enough.

Lone Women is one unique and captivating reading experience. Victor LaValle dishes out some violent, metaphorical thrills that left me surprisingly thrilled with everything I was left to think about after reading it.

“You kept too many secrets,” Adelaide says to her parents. “Look what it cost you.”

The story hooked me right from the start when Adelaide flees her black farming community in Southern California after her parents are mysteriously killed, creating plenty of suspense to keep me turning the pages. She travels with a locked steamer trunk carrying the burden of horrifying secrets. Adelaide travels to Montana to seek solace as one of the “lone women” who have taken up the government’s offer of free land. She soon discovers that she is not the only one with secrets, and the unforgiving land becomes a backdrop for unforgettable characters and a strong story of sisterhood.

“There are two kinds of people: those who live with shame, and those who die from it.”

“That shit wears you down,” she tells us. “The reward for sacrifice is simply more sacrifices.”

My Two Cents

LaValle blends elements of suspense, a feminist Western horror with some history-creating a profound understanding of how complicated the past is while connecting that with the human psyche and exploring themes of family, shame, burden, race, gender, and power.

“History is simple, but the past is complicated” ~Victor LaValle.

There is plenty of physical violence with Adelaide’s murderous family secret and the townspeople but the story’s psychological horror elements drive the story.

LaValle creates three diverse independent lone women while exploring race and gender but doesn’t fall into gender norms or stereotypes. I was hesitant about reading a book written by a man about strong, vulnerable women. However, LaValle sought feedback from women, including his wife, who advised him not to victimize the women and showed him when a woman would be vulnerable in a way a man might not see.

“One of the things I wanted to get across,” LaValle says, “is that the tenor of a lot of old westerns is, ‘Look how bold and brave these white men with the law and the government and guns all on their side were.’ And I wanted to say, ‘That’s not brave. What’s brave is to go out there when you know all those things are allied against you.’ I was astounded by the bravery of these women.”

LaValle takes that “soothe the savage beast” trope and creates a thrilling metaphorical monster, creating plenty of suspense and tension that drives the story forward while giving us plenty to think about with the family’s shame and burden when hiding secrets from the past.

Lone Women demands to be read slowly, savored, and contemplated. At times, I lost patience with the pacing and almost gave up, but all the praise from across the book community on the internet kept me curious as to why. I am glad I did hang in there because I would have missed out on some profound themes of family burden and shame that stood out for me, compelling characters that I will remember, and masterful storytelling that will have me thinking about for quite some time.

Starting over. the strength of women in hard times. Adelaide Henry leaves her home after burning it down with the remains of her parents. Leaving California to try to homestead in Montana. She is determined and is actually not traveling alone. Her large heavy trunk hides a secret. A horrible secret. Things are going well until the trunk is opened and the horror begins. Strong women surviving in the past thru hard times.

Lone Women is my first novel by Victor LaValle, and I couldn't be more pleased. Though it falls in the horror genre, it is by far the most widely palatable horror novel I've ever read. Expertly written with superb character development, Lone Women explores the weight of generational burdens, the intersectionality of race, gender, sex, and class in the early years of American Settlement in the northwest, loneliness and strength, the lengths people will go to for survival, familial bonds, what friendship really looks like, how brave a person can be when they have nothing left to lose and nowhere else to go, and what it is to be a monster.

Though I've always said I detest anything that looks remotely like a western and have zero interest in stories set in this era, I do love horror and I'm so overdue in reading something by this author, there was no way I wasn't going to give this book a fair shot. I'm so very glad that I did.

Even if you don't like the setting. Even if you don't like horror. If you do love excellent writing, character driven stories - especially strong female characters, and digging into the meat of social and cultural issues that are relevant even today, you should pick this book up. You might be as surprised as I was!

I think this may be my favorite book of 2023. Victor LaVelle has a fan out of me. I did not want this book to end and I plan on reading a lot more by him.

4.5/5!

Outside of reading, I love watching TV and trying out new shows with my husband. We just recently finished a binge of Deadwood, which I fell absolutely in love with. Since then I’ve been looking for something to fill the great American West hole in my heart. Turns out, Lone Women was just the book to do that!

From the start LaValle sets the stage for mystery and intrigue. I loved getting to know Adelaide and the knowledge of her carrying a heavy secret, just made me want to know everything about her even more. This story isn’t just about Adelaide though, it’s about so much more and so many more of the characters we get to meet through her. The women of this book shine brightly, as we witness how resilient and forthright they truly are.

LaValle captures the absolute beauty and sheer terror of being out in the middle of a land of unknowns, fighting to keep yourself alive and survive both physical and mental horrors. The writing is absolutely divine in how lyrical, yet to the point LaValle is able to craft his story. Everything about this book is so intricately strung together that it’s impossible not to become invested. This is my second time reading LaValle’s work and I’ll continue to pick up his new books and go through his backlist.

Creepy. Strong women. Some horror.
Adelaide rushes away from her home, leaving behind comfort and all she knows. For Montana.
With her, Adelaide is forced to drag a steamer trunk. A legacy from her birth, forced to continue with her parents' death.
I loved all the strong women pushing the boundaries, creating their own lives with no apologies.

This is my second book by this author. Told in third person and in very short chapters, I flew through it in less than a day. I was worried in the beginning, but Adelaide’s voice quickly pulled me into her story, curious about what was in her mysterious steam trunk. I was not disappointed. I love a good frontier story. Add in the eeriness of western ghost towns, bands of thieves and mysterious creatures and this one had the makings of a wildly entertaining tale.

I really enjoy the character of Adelaide. She’s brave and courageous to head off to the territory of Montana to make a claim of her own. Strange and mysterious things happen to her on the journey. She meets a lot of eccentric people as she endeavors to find a life of her own. Some who are out for themselves and some who understand the importance of community and supporting each other in the harsh environments of winter in Montana.

Recommended to horror lovers who enjoy a bit of the American Frontier.

Thank you to Netgalley and One World Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and One World and Random House Publishing for sending me an eARC of Lone Women!

I’m not gonna lie. I have no idea what I just read. The writing style was really great but the storyline felt like it was all over the place for me. I binge read this and finished it in a day. But I still don’t know how I feel about it. There was so much happening.
2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.

Mr. LaValle has done it again! He has an immersive writing style that just sucks you in and this book is certainly no exception. The imagery, the characters, the plot… it’s amazing and it always blows me away

I have loved all of the books Victor LaValle has written, so I knew I would love this one, too. And I was so right! I loved it so much more than I already thought I would! I loved the horror aspect of the story, but I was also intrigued by the friendship between Adelaide, Grace, Fiona, and Bertie. And Sam! How I loved Sam's part of the story! This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books this year!

If you read the final paragraph of the publisher's summary, you'll note the phrase "magical suspense" and the word "horror" there. And, if you've been following my reading for very long at all, you know that neither of those things is in my wheelhouse. In fact, you'll have heard me say, repeatedly, that I will intentionally steer away from anything where magic is mentioned. But in 2017 I was offered the chance to read and review LaValle's The Changeling, which ended up being one of my favorite books of the year, so I jumped at the opportunity to read his latest work.

Once again, LaValle has convinced me that horror is a genre that I can enjoy, provided it's done well. And LaValle does it well. In The Changeling, LaValle sucked me in with references to fairy tales and literature. Here he lures me in with history, a history he learned about that convinced him to write a book in an entirely new to him setting (his books are, apparently, usually sent in the New York City area). In the first part of the last century, anyone was allowed a land grant in areas of the West that were in need of more settlers. It was not uncommon for single women (including at least one black woman but not Chinese people) to attempt to settle the land, something they had to do for three years before they could claim it as their own.

When Adelaide flees California, she is bound for Montana, a place she has found where she might be able to own land and live in solitude. But Adelaide is running from the murder of her parents, carrying with her a mysterious trunk, and has absolutely no clue how hard life will be in remote Montana, just as winter begins to settle in. She finds herself forced to rely on others and soon makes friends. But the mystery of that trunk soon revels itself, putting Adelaide at risk among people she is only beginning to realize might be a danger.

While this book is set in the past, it manages to address problems that we're still grappling with - racism, the eradication of the indigenous way of life, and sexism. He also addresses other big themes, including sexual identity. LaValle gives readers nothing but strong women in this book, women capable to helping themselves, of defending their lives and property. It's clear from early on that what's in the trunk is a very real monster and that the ghosts Adelaide will later confront are real, they are also symbols of bigger things. It took me actually reading Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus to understand the symbolism in that story but it opened my eyes to the ways writers might use horror to explore bigger themes. LaValle seems to me to be a master at this and at making me cheer for the monster.

I highly recommend this one but my recommendation does come with a warning: like The Changeling, this book is violent, bloody, and gruesome. Weirdly, in LaValle's hands, I'm ok with that as it appears essential to the greater story.

*Thank you for this ARC!*

Lone Women aptly weaves history, horror, and suspense into a beautifully written book, with notes of Western and secrets uncovered.
I thorougly enjoyed it.
Will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author!

This is one that sounded excellent, but just kept falling flat for me. I tried listening on audio, but I found myself uninterested in coming back to it. After nearly four months of starts and stops, I think I'm gonna call it and ultimately DNF this at about the halfway point. I was hoping for a bit more atmosphere, a bit more execution on the horror-related elements. I may give the author another shot in the future!

Adelaide believes she is responsible for her parents death. She has good reason. Raised in isolation , she isn’t necessarily pretty. She is sturdier than most women. And she travels with a very big , heavily lines trunk. The promise of free land moves her from her home, to the frontier and a life , remote but to her liking. Self reliant and determined she sets up to live alone. It’s a very raw and desolate story. The free land came with a price, lonliness, at times despair, but ultimately a triumph of women’s spririt. The ending will astound you.