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Lone Women: A Novel (The LaValle Quartet)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
“Propulsive . . . LaValle combines chills with deep insights into our country’s divides.”—Los Angeles Times
ONE OF BOOKPAGE'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE AND LOCUS AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Esquire, Vulture, Paste, Tordotcom, Book Riot, Polygon, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
“Propulsive . . . LaValle combines chills with deep insights into our country’s divides.”—Los Angeles Times
ONE OF BOOKPAGE'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE AND LOCUS AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Esquire, Vulture, Paste, Tordotcom, Book Riot, Polygon, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
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Community Reviews
Synopsis of Lone Women – Adelaide Henry leaves California to go to Montana to begin a new life as a homesteader after her parents’ deaths. Along her journey she carries a heavy trunk with her and experiences many ventures.
STBC 5- Star Rating: 2.5 Stars
What finally enticed me to accept an early invitation to read Lone Women by Victor LaValle were all the early glowing reviews. Horror is not my usual genre, although I did read it more often many years ago, so I felt like it might be nice to revisit the genre. Especially if it seemed guaranteed to be worth my while. And I’m pleased to say it was!
Sometimes I’m nervous when I pick up a book that crosses several genres, and this one ticks off multiple ones: horror, thriller, historical fiction, western. But they work. All together, they set the perfect tone for this story about secrets and unexpected evil. I especially liked that it was historical fiction, which gave the story more gravitas. The past, itself, is unknown in many ways, and it added to the mystery, made it even more of a story to be told, and passed down.
While this book is horror, it’s not what I would call jump-scare horror. It’s more subtle, a skin-crawling, eerie horror. LaValle is a master of suspense in Lone Women.
We meet Adelaide Henry at the worst time in her life. Her parents have been violently killed, and the reason for their deaths is locked in a trunk she’s dragging along with her as she runs away from her home in California. She’s heading for Montana as one of the “lone women”, women who take advantage of the government’s offer of free land, hoping her secrets will stay hidden. But as someone who’s never seen snow, she’s not prepared for the howling winds or bone-chilling cold of this unforgiving land. As she tries to make a new life as a single black woman, she learns that things aren’t always what they seem.
We meet many characters throughout the story, and each one seems to contain a multitude of secrets and surprises, enhancing that feeling of suspense. LaValle especially succeeds at representing minority women of the time period, their strength and courage in a mostly unwelcome environment.
I didn’t want to stop reading this one, but I did find myself pausing often to wonder, what did I just read!? Cinematic and startling, Lone Women will take your breath away!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to One World and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
Check out my reviews and playlists at A Book Wanderer
#popsugarreadingchallenge2023 (prompt #34 - a historical fiction book)
Sometimes I’m nervous when I pick up a book that crosses several genres, and this one ticks off multiple ones: horror, thriller, historical fiction, western. But they work. All together, they set the perfect tone for this story about secrets and unexpected evil. I especially liked that it was historical fiction, which gave the story more gravitas. The past, itself, is unknown in many ways, and it added to the mystery, made it even more of a story to be told, and passed down.
While this book is horror, it’s not what I would call jump-scare horror. It’s more subtle, a skin-crawling, eerie horror. LaValle is a master of suspense in Lone Women.
We meet Adelaide Henry at the worst time in her life. Her parents have been violently killed, and the reason for their deaths is locked in a trunk she’s dragging along with her as she runs away from her home in California. She’s heading for Montana as one of the “lone women”, women who take advantage of the government’s offer of free land, hoping her secrets will stay hidden. But as someone who’s never seen snow, she’s not prepared for the howling winds or bone-chilling cold of this unforgiving land. As she tries to make a new life as a single black woman, she learns that things aren’t always what they seem.
We meet many characters throughout the story, and each one seems to contain a multitude of secrets and surprises, enhancing that feeling of suspense. LaValle especially succeeds at representing minority women of the time period, their strength and courage in a mostly unwelcome environment.
I didn’t want to stop reading this one, but I did find myself pausing often to wonder, what did I just read!? Cinematic and startling, Lone Women will take your breath away!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to One World and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
Check out my reviews and playlists at A Book Wanderer
#popsugarreadingchallenge2023 (prompt #34 - a historical fiction book)
With having previously read The Devil in Silver by Lavalle, I had many hopes for this book, and I was not disappointed. While I do believe that it is a much slower pace book, I still think that it does a great job of not slogging through any section of the book. If you are into horror books about personal connection, then this will be a good book for you. Even though this book isn't the "wow this book really took my breath away", it does provide enough action and suspense to keep you reading it as a nice weekend book.
This book was not what I was expecting at all, and I'm not mad about it. This was a fun, unique, roller coaster of a story with a lot of waves constantly webbing and flowing to weave an incredible journey. Highly recommend listening to audio on this one!
I picked this book up because it featured my home state! I was not disappointed! Thrilling read, start to finish!
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