This book was a slow burn. At first I was intrigued because I never knew if this history in the US. But once I got to know the characters I was hooked. I would have loved more action.. perhaps a part 2!

What an interesting book, i will admit I did not think it was going to go the way it would since I thought this would be very light.

The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird is an intriguing novel about a woman named Lois who moves to a ranch in Nevada for six weeks so she can divorce her husband. After being infantilized by her father and husband, she’s struggling to fit in with the others. She’s an odd duck among the other girls staying at the Golden Yarrow, other girls who are getting divorces as well, until Greer arrives. As she becomes closer to Greer, is she being taken advantage of or has she made a true friend?

This book took me a little bit to get into, but I enjoyed the story. I really liked the ending and thought it was very fitting for the main character. However, I didn’t really like the main character and found it hard to root for her throughout the story. For this reason, I would give it four stars.

Thank you to the publishers and to Net Galley for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I don't typically love books that are set in the past but I was so compelled by the plot that I wanted to give this one a chance. I am so glad I did. I was hooked from the first chapter. It lost a bit of steam towards the middle but it finished strong.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before publication. I was interested in the premise of this book, set at a women’s “divorce ranch” in Reno in the 1950s, when people could be granted a quickie divorce by living in certain states for 6 weeks to establish residency. While the beginning intrigued me and I enjoyed the cast of characters, it just felt very unfinished to me in terms of plot and character development. The way it ended was a little disappointing as well. The context and the time period of this story was interesting, but I just wanted more from it.

This book takes place during the 1950s in Reno, Nevada at a divorce ranch. Back in a time when it wasn’t easy for a woman to leave an unhappy marriage, Nevada offered citizenship in 6 weeks and once you established that you could get a divorce there. Women came from all over to stay at a ranch for 6 weeks, visit the casinos and then get their divorce. This follows the story of Lois who develops a life changing friendship with Greer. While at the ranch’. Greer is unlike any woman Lois has ever met and she doesn’t live by societal conventions. She encourages Lois to see what her life could be like if she establishes her independence from her marriage and her father. This one is largely a slow burn. There is a long time of character development before the big events occur and a surprise is revealed. This book is about female friendship, independence and betrayal. I thought it was very impressive for a debut. I would continue to read books by this author. It was eye opening to read about these divorce ranches because it was something with which I was unfamiliar.

1950s Reno. Where you could live on a divorce ranch for 6 weeks and be granted your divorce. Lois finds herself at the Golden Yarrow, the best of the divorce ranches. Paid for by her father, her mother dead, Lois is lonely. Her marriage didn’t cure her loneliness. But when Greer arrived at the ranch, Lois is dazzled, as are the other women. She does her own thing, wears what she wants, says what she wants. But who is she really?

I loved the glamour of this story. I’m currently in Reno for a work contract. It’s so amazing to read about the golden days of Reno, then drive the streets today. Lois’ evolution from who she was when she arrived at the ranch to who she was when she left was emotional to watch (or read). Historical fiction fans, and fans of the golden days of glamorous housewives will love this one!

Personally DNF - I lost interest quite quickly. But the book just did meet the content I was interested in reading at the time. The concept seems quite interesting and the setting seems unique. I was thinking the book might have more humor but that was my own misunderstanding.

Loved the time period, loved the setting, and really enjoyed getting to know these characters. Such vivid descriptions of 1950's Reno makes it worth the read!

I really enjoyed this book. The cover and title really drew me in as well as learning of "divorce ranches" of which are very new to me.

Lois is dissatisfied in her controlling marriage and moves to Reno for the required 6 weeks to file for divorce as a Nevada resident. Along the way she finds her own voice after being silenced by her husband and father for so many years.

I loved how Lois becomes this strong feminist character and embraces all of the things that she loves. All of the women at the ranch were colorful wide characters.

A perfectly fine book, but it just didn't work for me and I can't put my finger on why. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

The Divorcées by Rowan Beair was a good slow burn debut.
I enjoyed this story a lot more than I originally thought I would.
The setting was described so well and mentally I was transported back to the 1950s.
The detail was amazing and the writing really sucked me in.
The characters in this book are amazing to say the least.
This story is so well-written and engaging, I really enjoyed it.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Set against the backdrop of the Nevada desert, THE DIVORCEES explores a new part of American history that is rarely explored. Set during the 1950s, Lois Saunders finds herself unceremoniously sent to Reno's most well reputed "Divorce Ranches" where, according to strict instructions by her father, she is to hole up for the state required six weeks, finalize her divorce, and then return straight home to her childhood home. The Golden Yarrow provides luxurious accommodations for her patrons-- a swimming pool, horse back riding, nature walks, daily trips to the town's bars and casino-- as well as the companionship of other pending divorcees. But Lois finds herself unable to fit in with the other wealthy girls, her awkward nature too big a hurdle to overcome, and she soon feels as isolated as she was during her loveless marriage.

Enter Greer Lang, a mysterious woman who appears in the middle of a night with a bruise mottling her beautiful face. Lois feels as drawn to her as a moth to a flame, and Greer, against all odds, seems to genuinely enjoy Lois' company.

This book was definitely character driven, with Lois a protagonist not everyone will relate to. She's awkward, perhaps autism-coded, and unsure of her place in the world-- it's truly only in the last chapters of the book we get the chance to see her truly grow into herself. Alternatively, Greer was a complex and incredibly interesting character-- her personality and traits revealed to the readers bit by bit, almost slowly enough it would be easy to not notice the red flags. I loved the LGBTQA+ undertones of Greer and Lois' relationship, and how, ultimately, it reflected an abusive marriage (which was so perfect when explored on a Divorce Ranch amongst other women trying to escape their own abusive relationships).

This book will not leave you on the edge of your seat, it's slow moving and not as action packed as some may hope-- but the author did a wonderful job of not only capturing one woman's relatively unglamorous experience at a 1950s divorce ranch (which would be so easy to romanticize) as well as a complex female relationship, and one woman's exploration to see how far she's willing to go for freedom.

The title and cover definitely promised a fun read, and I definitely enjoyed the historical fiction aspect, learning about the Reno ranches where women could establish residency in 6 weeks to qualify for a divorce without having to have some strict "accepted" reasons. At first it seemed like this would be a character-driven novel about a young woman, Lois Gorski Saunders, desperate to escape from a boring and loveless marriage in Chicago. The author does a good job of establishing the fact that marriage was often the only route a woman had to create her own adult life. And a divorce in the early 1950's guaranteed that the woman would have a handicap establishing a new life with the label of "divorcee." However, somewhere around page 100, I found Lois's widely varied escapades to be a bit confusing. I was not terribly surprised when there seemed to be hints of an LQBTQ relationship brewing between Lois and another new ranch resident. There had been early statements about Lois having a negative view of marriage with absolutely no desire to procreate, followed by all those tooth-tingling jolts when a certain female resident looked at her. But then wait... did Lois just have a heterosexual hookup, or was she dreaming that? I had to go back and reread a few pages. The plans for criminal activity seemed to come out of nowhere. So after feeling disbelief at these earlier adventures, I struggled with deciding on a rating of 3 versus 4. Ultimately, since I valued the historical divorce information, the unique setting of the old divorce ranches, and thought that the concluding television scene combined with details about monogrammed shirts were believable and provided a satisfying conclusion, I rounded my rating up to a 4 .

The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird was a good read with an interesting concept. I enjoyed the historical fiction and thought that it met my basic expectations of the genre. I don't know if I would re-read this book, but certainly worth a read once.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for sending me an ARC of the novel!

The Divorcees has a lot going for it - an intriguing premise, beautiful prose, and characters that do a lot to distinguish themselves. So why did it take me so many tries to get through it? Something is just....off here. the book spends approximately the first 70% on exposition and description and very quiet world building, and then right at the end, hits you with something entirely different and unexpected. I really, really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work for me. I do think there is an audience for this, and I have a book group of older ladies who I think this might really resonate with, but it is not a page turner, and it is not for everyone. Solidly a 3.5 star for me.

The thing I loved most about this book is how firmly rooted in its time it was- the PoV character is constantly comparing things to contemporaneous movies and radio shows, for one, but beyond that, all the characters think and talk within the world of the early 1950s that they live in - things that would be unimaginable to women then are unimaginable to these women, which I think is much harder to do than it seems, especially in a book with a protagonist who is bucking convention. The writing is also really evocative in the way it describes female friendships and women at this age- intense, self conscious, validating, insecure. The emotional content here felt very real to me, and the nearly erotic envy that Lois feels towards Greer very familiar. Excellent writing, and only as tidy of a story as it should have been- fundamentally just a little hopeful in a world that is, under everything, neither cruel nor caring.

“The Divorcees” is a debut novel by Rowan Beaird. This is binned under historical fiction, as it takes place in 1951 in Reno, NV at a divorce ranch - but, honestly, it could’ve taken place in the 1930s up to the 1970s. Unfortunately, except for one mention of a movie released in 1951, the time period really doesn’t matter. As for the story - while the main focus (and POV) is from Lois, a woman seeking a divorce for no specific reason other than she wants out of her marriage, not a lot happens in this book. There is Lois going to the ranch, there’s meeting the other women (who, honestly, I could not keep straight after a few chapters), meeting the owner(s) of the ranch, and, basically, waiting out the six weeks of residency. Lois meets Greer and things become interesting, but while becoming interesting, I started wondering if this book was going to move to one of LGBTQA+ or akin to a heist/train robbery movie plot. Then there was the build up, then the twist (which I saw coming), then the fall out, then the second little wrinkle in the plot - and in the end, honestly, I felt underwhelmed by build-ups that didn’t really pan out. I don’t know what, if any, growth Lois had during the book, other than losing a husband. I wish this book had been tighter or had more action, less build-up. I think that if a reader is interested in Reno divorce ranches, this might be of interest - along with complex female relationships.

This was a solid debut novel. It was well written and it kept me intrigued for most of the book. There were some slower parts that lost my attention for a little bit but then I was pulled back into it. I loved that this was so different than anything else I have read lately. I have never heard of the Reno divorce ranches before this novel. It was fascinating to learn what lengths these woman had to go through to get a divorcee and to start back out on their own. The writer really does a good job of explaining the inequality of life as a woman in the 1950's. I enjoyed getting to know the different women at the ranch and their stories and relationships with each other. The ending was not my favorite but I did enjoy the book overall and look forward to reading more novels from Rowan Beaird.

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books for my digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a good book with a well developed story line. I enjoyed this tale of Lois’ coming of age. Lois is a young woman in the 1950s who rushes into marriage after her mother dies. Faced with being trapped into a loveless marriage, she leaves her husband and is sent by her father to a Reno ranch where she can file for a divorce after 6 weeks. This novel details the challenges of being a woman in the 1950s, and how difficult it was to break free from the norm. Well written and enjoyable.