Thank you to #Netgalley for a free copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for a fair review.


My Interest

To be honest, the cover and the title grabbed me on #Netgalley! And then, after reading the description, who doesn’t love a book about a group of women–whether as friends in Mary McCarthy’s classic, The Group, or Maeve Binchy’s many books, but especially in Circle of Friends, or so many others. We “gals” can make a great story. (Given the era of THIS story I could hear Jane Russell saying “We full figure gals….”)
The Story

“…it’s not that they act like men, but like girls when no men are present….”

“But after we were married he began to act so differently….criticiz[ing]…. Whenever he was in the house I was scared to breath. And then….I thought I was pregnant…terrified at the thought I’d be truly stuck and helpless….I got my period….I realized I had to leave…I just felt that if I stayed with him I’d not explode…but …collapse in on myself, that I would disappear….”

“…there’s a vertigo to his presence….“

“…the word its own rosary….”

Note: All quotations were taken down from the audiobook. The punctuation may differ from what is presented here. I did not have access to the print/Kindle version of the book.

Chicagoan Lois arrives at a Ranch for ladies establishing residency in Nevada for a “quickee” divorce in the early 1950s when divorce still took “grounds” to obtain. This ranch caters to ladies of a certain class–the soon-to-be ex-wives of old money, high powered businessmen and the like. As she and Dorothy, and Mary Elizabeth and the others wait for their court dates a mysterious woman, thought to be “old money” arrives with a terribly bruised face.

As the “girls” (regardless of age) pass their days with trail rides, trips to the movies or to shop or to have their weekly shampoo and set, Greer sits by the pool or goes into town at night for the casino. She has that ability to overlook propriety and rules that makes the others look up to her.

As their six weeks pass and the newly divorced “girls” return to their parents or go on to the chapel to marry the new husband–for no one would consider living alone! As Greer says, “even sad Secretaries” have roommates, Lois still thinks that could be the life for her. Greer is the only one who sympathizes. And, boy, does she have a plan!
My Thoughts

I love groups of women books! This one definitely lives up to its promise. The minute the name “Greer” was mentioned you just KNOW she’s the one they’ll all either adore or idolize or start to copy. In a word of “Lois-es” everyone would want to be a “Greer.” Like “Baby” in Lee Smith’s The Last Girls, you just KNOW that name signals the catalyst of the story. The air of mystery, the different way of acting–saying things that aren’t polite and wearing totally different clothing–she’s the “one,” the “It” girl of the story.

As she and Lois sit by the pool and while Lois reads Rebecca and Age of Innocence aloud they form a friendship and Lois sees a kindred soul. It is when they start making trips to the casino and a new world is opened to Lois–one Greer is, naturally, blasé about, that the story heats up and we see the conundrum in which Lois is becoming ensnared–the one in which we can presume all of the other “girls” who gleefully auditioned for it, in the end, sidestepped it.

Her self-pleasure moments aside, for the first half of the book I felt a true kinship with Lois–hence the quotes I chose at the top of this review. But as Greer spun her web I only saw a sad fool. Thankfully, she redeemed herself in the end. [I’m wondering if any of the readers I know who loved Charlotte Wood’s The Weekend--felt real kinship with it when I did not, would have a “not” moment with Lois?]

This book is very well written. It does, occasionally stray over into overly MFA or precious language (shoes lined up so the heels “kiss” or persons being “enveloped” in their youth), but wow is this a compelling read! With all the intentional use of “the girls,” thank heaven she didn’t mention them not having “agency”–I started expecting that! But it also seems to have passed a “check the box” to be published test. Why? Because we are forced to endure Lois’ self-pleasure sessions, brief though they are. This is one of “those” topics that keeps appearing to “titillate” or hopefully even “shock.” (Sorry, editors, nothing about sex shocks today, move on).

I would not be surprised if I read this has already begun filming for some streaming platform. It’s simply made for tv.


The Divorcées: A Novel by Rowan Beaird publishes March 19, 2024, but is available for pre-order.
My Verdict
4.25

It would have been 4.5 but for the ick of Lois’s self pleasure.

I listened to the audio version of this book.

One very minor mistake–“pantyhose” didn’t need clips or clasps! I laughed at this. Good grief isn’t the name pretty expressive! I hope the publisher can still change it to “hose” or “stockings.”

Thank you to NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3 STARS (2.5 rounded up)

This one was slow for me. It was hard to get into and lost my attention at times. I think it had a great storyline, but this one was just too slow for me.

More like 2.5 stars but I am being nice and rounding up . . .

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024, but unfortunately it really missed the mark. I love women's fiction and historical fiction, so this novel was right up my alley. I also like the 1950s as a decade for book settings, and I had never heard of "divorce ranches" before, so I was intrigued by the premise. For those unfamiliar, since divorce was difficult/impossible in most states except Nevada, women would go and vacation on these ranches for 6 weeks to establish residency, after which time they would be legally entitled to a divorce.

This all sounds great, but the execution was lackluster. Lois, from the Chicago suburbs, goes to stay at the ranch. There, she meets a handful of women, one of whom is the mysterious Greer, an alleged Manhattan socialite escaping an abusive marriage. The book blurb promised me a "riveting page-turner and a dazzling exploration of female friendship, desire, and freedom," but there was actually minimal character development or female friendship. Also, the pace was quite slow until the last quarter of the book. Lastly, the novel hinted at a wlw romance between Lois and Greer, but nothing ever panned out in that department either.

I think with some major editing, this could be a great book. I could also see it rewritten as a screenplay and made into a compelling TV miniseries via something like Reese's Hello Sunshine.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and author Rowan Beaird for audiobook and e-book arcs in exchange for my honest review.

The Divorcees was an appreciative look into what it may have been like to be a divorced woman in the 1950s. Divorce Ranch is where all the wealthy divorcees go when they have no where else to go. With lots of things to do to keep the women busy, they all just go with the flow until Greer shows up mysteriously. All the women are intrigued by Greer and her secrecy, Lois most of all.

While I appreciated the historical quality of the book. I did feel as though Lois was an insufferable, whiney, one dimensional character. Greer was manipulative and a narcissist. The book is listed as a “Friendship Fiction” genre, but I don’t feel there’s a tale of actual friendship here. The women are all catty and dramatic. I struggle to see which specific genre it falls into. For a moment I thought it had potential to have a slight thrilling wrap up with the crimes being committed, but it ultimately fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron books for the Advanced readers copy for free in exchange for my honest review. All words and thoughts are my own honest opinions.

The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird set in the 1950s in Reno, provides a glimpse into the world of divorce ranches. The Golden Yarrow’s residents are from the wealthy and movie star worlds. The women seeking a divorce must reside in Nevada for 6 weeks in order to obtain a divorce. The Golden Yarrow is a country club atmosphere where the women can horseback ride, lounge by the pool, go into town shopping and visit the gambling casinos at night. We are introduced to Lois , her family saga, and the various women she becomes friends with at the ranch. Through Lois we meet the women, their stories, and friendships. One in particular, Greer, plays a major influence on Lois’ life plans. Lois finds out at the end of the book that Greer is not who she thought she was.

This was a fun story to listen to of strong women who go through tough times and come out on the other side discovering who they are! Lois finds herself in a ranch for divorcees in Reno, NV, and while there learns how female friendships work, and who she is and wants to be. This was a good and quick listen and the narrator was great to listen to.

Underwhelming. While the story is intriguing and felt real the character was so mundane, boring and unlike able.

However, I LOVED author Rowan Beaird's writing style and supporting characters. The intrigue, mystery, and suspense surrounding them, but the MC fell flat for me.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was good. I found the divorce ranch to be an interesting concept but the book was just way too slow for me. I found myself bored and waiting for something to happen during most of it. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but it just wasn’t the book for me.

The Divorcées is a debut novel from Rowan Beaird, focused on the experience of Lois Saunders, a woman who has found herself in Nevada on a "divorce ranch" so she can legally divorce her husband. I was not previously familiar with the concept of divorce ranches, but found the setting and premise to provide an excellent opportunity for unique personalities to meet and interact. Beaird's depiction of Reno in the 1950's was also very illustrative and made me want to look more into the history of the area and divorce ranches.

For me, the cast of characters surrounding Lois were a highlight of the story. I found myself wanting to know more about Rita, the owner of the ranch, and her right hand woman Bailey than I did about the main character. I personally had a hard time connecting with Lois and found it interesting that the reader is provided with hints throughout the story which leave you with more information than Lois. Having this information for me left me feeling like I wanted Lois to catch up, and negatively impacted the pacing of the book.

I was lucky enough to review this book in audio format, Bailey Carr delivers a solid performance. Thank you to Rowan Beaird and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of this audio book.

The Divorcees had all the makings of a fantastic book, set in golden-era Nevada, a bunch of well-off women temporarily moving to the state to obtain residency, a divorce from their husbands, and a start at a new life. I was expecting vintage-era Real Housewives drama, and instead found myself reading a rather lackluster story of a woman struggling to find herself. This story teeters on mystery, romance, and drama, but never quite dives in, which just let me wanting more. I would recommend it as a quick beach read, but it won’t likely become your favorite book of all time.

The Divorcees was an intriguing step back in time—a time when women could ask for a divorce, but with many stipulations and restrictions. This book had secrets, lies, mystery, allure, and historical reminders which were woven together with beatiful writing.

I enjoyed the backdrop of Reno, with casinos and the promise Nevada brings to so many of us. I liked following the main character through her journey of discovering who she was apart from others, and through the trouble she found herself in.

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did a wonderful job, and was fitting for the main character. I listened at 1.75x speed which is my normal listening speed.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audio copy.

This book fell a little flat for me. The first 60-70% of the book felt very slow. The divorcees were largely indistinguishable. I couldn’t really connect with Lois, she was quite bland. I really wish the author focused more on the relationships between all the women. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for honest review of the audiobook!

This is a book that promised so much but was held back from delivering by one significant issue.

First, where this book delivered:
- The author provided an interesting view of the struggles women faced in ending marriages in the early 1950s. The concept of establishing residency by living at a divorce ranch was fascinating and showed how powerless women were during that time.
- Lois showed some real growth as a character throughout the book. Her transformation was slow, but it was there.
- The writing painted a realistic picture of Reno as both an outpost in the middle of nowhere and a burgeoning gambling mecca.

Now, where the book fell flat for me:
- The pacing was uneven. I don't mind a slow burn, but this was a S L O W build to a dizzying spiral which then limped to the finish. I think listening to the audiobook helped here as I was able to move quickly through the parts where literally nothing happened.

Overall, I think this book could have benefitted from some additional editing; however, this author shows significant potential and I'm interested in seeing what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this ALC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of this audiobook. I had never heard of the Nevada divorce ranches and loved the setting and premise of the women at the Golden Yarrow. There were certain elements I really enjoyed, such as the growth Lois made throughout the book and the detail about the casinos and other Reno elements. I thought the twist here was interesting and was curious to see where it would go. The audiobook narrator was great and kept my attention.

Where I feel this book was lacking was in pace. The majority of the action of the book takes place in the last 25 percent of the story. There is so much invested in learning about Greer, Lois and Greer’s odd friendship, and other character nuances that could have been developed much more quickly. I wasn’t necessarily bored but I couldn’t believe I still had so much to go after getting to the 60 percent mark. Going with three stars because I didn’t love it and can’t say I’d recommend, but I would definitely give this author another try.

This book intrigued because it is written by a Chicago author and there are references to Lake Forest, a place I am very familiar with. However, this was possibly the dullest, most lengthy feeling book I've read in a long time. Many thanks to libro.fm for an ALC of this because I definitely wouldn't have made it through without listening to it.

The premise: Lois Saunders arrives at a ranch in Nevada for women looking to easily get a divorce in Reno. Among the colorful cast of women present is a mysterious woman named Greer, who arrives late one night with a beaten up face and refuses to dine with the other residents. Instantly enthralled with Greer, Lois wants to be as close as she can to her, risking her integrity and disregarding red flags.

Why I didn't like this book:
- Lois was a boring character who really hadn't grown by the end of this book.
- It was so predictable. Anyone could guess what would happen in the lead up to the climax without being a Miss Marple. I could have cared less about what happened to the characters, but by the time I realized this book was a flop, I was too far in to not finish it.
- Nothing happens in the first 72% of the book. It gets interesting for a little while, but peters back out to being blasé.
- I found it ironic that Lois and the other women who supposedly supported one another during their divorces were extremely catty. Lois especially has a negative comment about the appearance of every woman she interacts with (e.g. her lipstick made her lips look too big; the blue jeans made her legs unattractive; she was no Marlene Dietrich) which gets really old really fast. I guess it was mimicking human nature in that we do superficially judge one another, but it was an extreme.
- I'm curious as to why the author placed Lois' hometown in Lake Forest because nothing special was really attributed to it. It's also said an inordinate amount of times (synonyms would have been great such as "hometown") which bugged me for some reason.

In the end, I think the author writes well and has a promising future, but this book was so Lackluster, had One-dimensional characters, and felt like it lacked Purpose.

this is my first audiobook advance copy - which is so exciting! it's a whole reading experience for me, as in the past, i've enjoyed podcasts but haven't found a ton of enjoyment in audiobooks. historical fictional is also a newer genre to me, so i was really out of the box with this netgalley request.

anyway! i found this book to be a bit slow overall - other reviews have mentioned the character development as a positive, but for me, the character development doesn't necessarily make up for the plot placing, which can feel especially tedious in audiobook form. an interesting concept, but ultimately, it fell flat for me in this medium.

This review may contain spoilers.

I think this is a good book for people who like stories that are quieter and very character-driven. If you like lingering character studies, you might like this book. I think the strongest element here is the character work, which is understated but vivid. The weakest is the pacing of the plot itself—I think the slow, even pacing of the prose was stellar, but having more going on sooner might have made it more engaging. More tension leading up to the culmination towards the end would have been beneficial. I feel like I would be interested to read more work by this author, if only to see where their work goes from here.

The narrative was very coherent and readable—there’s an interesting balance here in how slow this book is versus how easy it was to get sucked into reading it and losing track of time. This is the sort of book where the narrative itself is comprised of secondary narratives. The slow, quiet rhythm for the most part feels thematically appropriate. It’s more of a tapestry of Lois’s experiences at the ranch than a specific string of events related to one plot. The cast felt very real, but other than Lois, Greer, Ruth, and a couple other of the women, they have a tendency to blur into the background and blend into eachother in my memory.

The audio narrator felt like a good fit for the book, but the overall cadence was kind of slow — understandable for the lingering quality of the story, but I personally found myself putting it on higher speeds frequently. I think these long, lingering character study type books work better for me in text form. The writing style has an interesting quality of vividness and bluntness in tandem. It’s clear and to the point, with sharp edges, very crystalline. Dialogue feels very natural, the characters and the setting coming to life the most between their conversations and the whispers behind each other’s backs.

The unsteadiness of the cast dynamics really intrigued me: it doesn’t feel like a mistake, and if anything, it seems very intentional. Every bond in this book is on uneven ground, at risk to expire and curdle at one wrong move. While this is demonstrated in several relationships, it’s most clear in Lois’s, due to the book following her. Her tendency to feel ostracized but her peers and embarrassed by herself translates into several different conflicts with other women, be it through her mundane lies or her unflinching defense of the women at the ranch. This makes it all the more easy for her to be exploited when someone encourages her to be herself rather than make her smaller—and makes it all the more damaging to her when that person sticks the knife in on her insecurities.

While there’s definitely a throughline of trust and betrayal throughout this, I honestly found it very vague. Characterization was consistent and nuanced, feeling very authentic to the different ways people cope with the life circumstances that put these women where they are. Conflict was very well-done, realistic almost to a fault: the characters are in a situation where their conflicts are all the more lingering, avoidant, stressful, but it’s mostly a very quiet stress. There’s moments where it amps up, but it never really hits a crescendo. The structure was very linear, providing a passive, dawdling flow up to the point where things get tense. I wasn’t expecting the scheme Greer cracked towards the end to happen at all, and it was an interesting contrast to the way the book loitered around up to that point.

The premise of this book had so much potential, unfortunately the execution fell flat. I really wish this was a coming of age story of divorcees in the 1950's finding their way in life and bonding together while learning their independence. Instead this was the story of naivety and manipulation. None of the characters had redeeming qualities and outside of the two main characters, they were all very forgettable and easy to get mixed up. The twist was extremely predictable and underwhelming. This plot could easily have been turned into a heartwarming, classic, women's fiction novel. Instead it was just boring and predictable.

Thank you NetGalley, Flatiron, and MacMillan Audio for this ARC.

This was a fascinating book for me. A historical fiction set in the 1950’s revolving around what women at that time did to get a divorce. I had no idea these “divorce ranches” even existed. So it was a bit eye opening to read all about that and how they operated. Throw in some scheming ladies and you’ve got yourself an even more intriguing story.

Greer was the popular girl in school that everyone wants to be friends with. So it’s no wonder that Lois wants to be her friend and is smitten with any extra attention that Greer gives her. I had wondered if something was going to happen with the two, but couldn’t put my finger on what exactly.

I did feel the ending fell a little flat and I wish it ended differently, but I won’t hold that against the whole book.

I always start my review by talking about the outside and moving in. The cover and title of this book caught my eye. The book itself was not that exciting. I did find it interesting that women would move away from their town when divorcing their partner; I thought this was only done when a women was pregnant before marriage or too young to have a baby. That was the only thing that I thought was interesting. The lives of these women were not that exciting. Maybe it was how it was written, but this is not a book that I would recommend.