I enjoyed reading this book about a short period in women’s history where they could travel to Reno, NV and get a divorce after a six week stay. The characters came for a variety of reasons and each had their own hopes and dreams for the future. It was interesting to view the area when it was still a budding gambling town in contrast to the cowboys and ranchers who first came to the area. It was a quick read that I finished on my flights to and from my destination.
#womenshistory #SixWeeksinReno #NetGalley

I loved this, it was creative and thought provoking. The writing was strong and the voice was distinct.

I read Six Weeks in Reno through NetGalley and appreciated the historical setting of the early 1930s, focusing on women seeking divorce. The author effectively captures these women's struggles, especially through Evelyn, who is trapped in a loveless marriage.

The friendships formed among the women and their interactions with ranch owners and cowboys added depth to the story, while the subplot of real estate fraud provided an interesting twist. However, I found it challenging to connect with Evelyn, as she often came across as shallow and snobbish, making engaging with her journey hard. The repetitive daily routines also slowed the pacing.

Despite these issues, I enjoyed the historical aspects and insights into divorce laws for women during this time, making it a worthwhile read overall.

I heard about divorce ranches randomly a while back so when I read the description for Six Weeks in Reno it peaked my interest! I have been wanting to read more historical fiction books especially about the forgotten parts of history 😱

The author does an amazing job describing the lives of all the different six-weeker women who were coming to Reno for divorces during the 1930s! A lot of women’s reasons for divorce was abuse, infidelity or both. I liked how with the main character Evelyn we had to figure out her reason for coming to Reno along the way 🤫

It was also interesting to see the lives of the ranchers! Renting out rooms to the six-weekers helped them survive and even thrive during the Great Depression. I was not expecting for there to be some cowboy romance also 🥰

The timeline is focused mainly on Evelyn’s time in Reno but it does jump back to her past of meeting her husband, her family and why her marriage broke down 😬 I do wish we got to see more of what happened after she returned home. As divorced women would be treated as social pariah in their communities 🫣 I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in historical fiction that focuses on women’s lives!

Six Weeks in Reno is out next year on 4th March 2025. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the arc!

I really enjoyed this novel and think it would suit some of my book club ladies. Reminded me of the Secret Life of Bees crossed with A Time of Fog and Fire.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Lucy H. Hedrick for an advanced copy of Six Weeks in Reno. My opinions are my own.

Set in the early 1900s, this book follows a woman named Evelyn who seeks a divorce but must travel out west to Reno, Nevada for six weeks to secure it. You not only see how this divorce process affects Evelyn but a group of women she’s met along the way.

Evelyn does come off as snobbish during most of the book, but she is kind and goes against her beliefs throughout the book. She is in a loveless marriage to an older man who “can’t find a job” during hard times. Not only do you get to discover what all has pushed her towards a divorce, you see how Evelyn changes.

I loved how Evelyn learned that sometimes it really does take a community. You don’t have to experience your life struggles by yourself. Throughout Evelyn’s life, she’s always done what was expected of her, but by going out to Reno to divorce her husband, she fully developed into a new woman. A woman who discovers her true value. She finds herself stumbling upon courage she never had before. She finds herself discovering healthy friendships that have been lacking her entire life.

I found this book is so inspirational. Many women feel disgraced when they face a divorce. This book helps you realize, you only get one life. Do you choose to be complacent or to face the unknown and live a life you choose for yourself?

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. I enjoyed it from the very first page!

I found the premise super interesting - I wasn’t aware of the history behind this historical fiction. It’s refreshing to get a HF pick that isn’t all about Europe in WW2.

This was a very interesting read! I think my main complaints were the amount of characters was hard to keep track of at times and the first person narrative made the story drag a little bit. But overall I enjoyed it and thought it was a fascinating peek into a part of history that we don’t hear a lot about!

This was a wonderful and thought-provoking Woman's fiction read! It takes you on a journey that makes you reflect on yourself.

Thank you Netgalley, Lucy H. Hedrick and Lake Union Publishing for giving me an ARC of this book!

Lucy H. Hedrick is known as a non-fiction author who delves into 'how-to' guides for saving time or money. Six Weeks in Reno is Hedrick's first fictionalized novel. The book is set in the early twentieth century when the US had conservative values (e.g., prohibition and women's rights). The main character, Evelyn Henderson, hails from an affluent family, she is married and has two children. However, Evelyn is heartbroken about her marriage. Throughout the novel, Evelyn's marriage is explored, but not in great depth. The story is primarily set in Reno, Nevada, the US' divorce capital, during the early twentieth century. Readers will meet several six-weekers- a woman trying to escape a dangerous or unfulfilling marriage. They are called six-weekers because Reno law requires a six-week residency to fulfill the divorce request. Readers will learn about the requirements and how some women didn't have all the necessary paperwork. Readers will also explore Reno from Evelyn's eyes. As a conservative woman, she's shocked by the frontier town, from alcohol consumption to gambling. She's sometimes in precarious situations with her fellow six-weekers despite receiving warnings from the ranch owners (the hosts to the six-weekers). I liked seeing how Evelyn slowly evolved, and I am curious about her life after divorce. My criticism lies in the lack of character development and the flow of the story, it felt chunky. The book became a bit repetitive with the characters' daily activities; this time could have been better used in fleshing out the characters' development—also, some of the storylines needed to be better connected to the plot. For instance, I wondered whether real estate scams were a common issue for six-weekers. I appreciated that the author wrote about divorce from a woman's perspective during the early twentieth century, but the book could have been improved with a good edit.

Six weeks in reno is a short novel about resilience, hope, growth, friendship and so much more. We follow Evelyn and through her eyes also some other woman during Six weeks in reno. A lot happens, some of it happy and some of it sad.

Quote: To hell with the confines of convention! And whose conventions are they anyway?

I did like the book and the story it told. I was happy to see the growth of not only Evelyn but the woman around her. I loved how we saw the friendships grow. That was my favorite part. The plot was quite good, enough happened. And each event taught something. A big positive for me as well is the historical accuracy. This is something I do really expect from historical novels as this and it delivered.

Now for the negative points. My biggest problem was the writing style. The author write non fiction books before this one and I can tell. It was a lot of tell, no show and we were a bit to much in the head of the MC. Conversations didn't really flow beceaus Evelyn had a paragraph of dialog in her head between most sentences. The writing style made it difficult for me to get into the book and the toghter with the plot that took a while to get started.

The big plot twist about her husband I also guessed from the beginning

I really enjoyed this book. From the beginning I found it engaging. It was challenging, 90 years later, and on a different continent, to relate to the lives of these women, and yet the themes of misogyny, and fraud are still in play in 2024.

I found it well written and well edited. And I liked that it wasn't all perfectly 'wrapped up' at the end.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the Preview copy.

After two decades in a loveless marriage and with her two children finally in college, Evelyn has found a way out.

Reno - just six weeks as a residence will grant you an uncontested divorce, so Evelyn boards a train bound for the frontier, Unsure and shaky she slowly makes friends and meets women from different backgrounds but who all need a divorce and quick!

Depression era Reno is a far cry from Evelyn's previous existence, and she blossoms under the glare of the sun and that of a cowboy who takes a shine to the buttoned up church fearing woman.

An uplifting tale of a woman embracing her new found freedom and forging her own future.

I like the concept of this book but I overall did not love it. It was a bit slow in the beginning and took me a while to get into. I appreciate that there is need for detail and background, but I found it to be a bit too much. It took me a while to get through this because of the slow pacing.

Well what an interesting read. I enjoyed reading the background history of casinos and the whole build up of the area.
I was not aware of the six-week divorce but how the ordeal the ladies went through, came across well. The characters were a good mixture and I can imagine true to life. These ladies were brave to fight the stigma of being a divorcee in the nineteen thirties

I'd heard a bit about these "divorce ranches," where women would go for their required six week of residency in Nevada to get a divorce. This was a fun, interesting novel. The characters are well done, and I loved the plot.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

“Six Weeks in Reno” follows a group of women, including our main character, Evelyn Henderson, who leave their husbands and families in the midst of the prohibition to seek out the six week reprieve required for a divorce.

The story is very quaint. It mostly details the day to day going-ons of the women, known as “six-weekers” - going to the salon, going shopping, attending dance halls - and their relationships with one another. It becomes a slice of life in exceptional circumstances. Hedrick clearly has a very astute understanding of the ‘30’s and Reno, building an indisputable setting.

The story flies quickly, not giving us enough time to learn and understand the characters. I’ve never said this before, but I wish this book was longer so I had more space to get to know the characters! This would help establish more specific voices for each character and give us readers a chance to actually connect with everyone. This feels especially prevalent with the characters of Sundown, Beatrice and Madeline. We know nothing about them, aren’t given the chance to get to know them. But we’re expected to like and care for them. It’s impossible to do so.

Evelyn falls flat as our narrator. She’s overtly judgemental and so against change and acceptance of a different lifestyle that readers never get the opportunity to watch her grow. When she does begin to change and grow, she still falls back into her judgement, which makes each of these new discoveries frustrating. As I reader, I felt like I was having a conversation with an older family member at Christmas - so set in their ways and so difficult to discuss anything of substance without pushback year in and out. With every scenario presented, she makes a passing comment on how terrible it is, how she’s better than the other ladies. What could present as an interesting exploration of growth as we get older, shifting values or acceptance for those different from her becomes a grating, negativity ridden journal of sorts.

Where Hedrick’s writing falters the most is in her descriptions and inner dialogue. She relies on telling the reader everything and posing direct questions, rather than building nuance, to progress her story. A classic example of not showing, just telling. With every emotion , every situation and detail, explained to us in black and white, there’s little opportunity for a reader to explore and discover the characters for themselves. This takes the reader out of the experience of the story - we become an observer to the story rather than a part of the story.

She also relies on using “shocking” personal details, such as assault or bulimic tendencies, to colour the text rather than inform any actual consequences or story. This downplays the severity of these things and makes the characters less believable. As a reader, it begins to feel taxing and frustrating.

Whilst an engaging concept, and has all the makings of an interesting story, “Six Weeks in Reno” falls quite flat unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the DRC.

It's 1931. Evelyn goes to a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada. She has 6 weeks and she will get an uncontested divorce. The story is full of fun, yet it makes you think of your own marriage and life. Loved it! I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. This review is my feelings towards the book.

This reminded me of the 1939 film The Women, in which socialites go to a "divorce ranch" in Reno, though the tone is different - instead of barbed humour, it's more of a coming-of-age story. The main protagonist Evelyn is nearing forty, but after an unhappy marriage, still needing to find happiness and self-fulfilment. The novel is structured around the 6 week stay in Reno and written in a first person, present-tense voice - so it feels very immediate, and almost like a diary. Overall, it's a gentle, easy read, following Evelyn's experiences in Reno, as she regains her confidence, though there are more dramatic moments too.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.