This was my first time reading from Victor LaValle and I cannot wait to read more of his works! This was a stunning novel, beautiful writing, and incredible story!

In the 19th and early 20th century, the Western United States was vast land, nearly uninhabited by people.(excluding, of course, the Indigenous communities whose ancestors had lived on the land for millennia, or the Indigenous people who had been driven there by the initial influx of white colonizers on the East coast. But I digress.) In order to bolster the population, homesteading and claim staking were available to many - if you were willing to work the land, for a small fee a parcel could be purchased and it would be yours, free and clear, after a certain amount of time.
This is the landscape in which Lone Women takes place. Adelaide Henry's parents are dead. After burning her house in the very opening pages - leaving readers, or at least myself, with some VERY intense questions - she packs up a single steamer trunk and heads to promised land in Montana.

This is a story populated by women. Lone women, specifically, unencumbered by husbands or brothers, out to find a place for themselves in the inhospitable Montana prairies. LaValle very deftly writes a series of diverse, intriguing women, almost all of them sympathetic, despite the burdens they bear of past misdeeds. This is genuinely one of my favorite examples of a man writing so many female characters.

One element that drew me out of the story was the casual use of more modern phrases in the narrative writing. Not being in first-person, his use of "fucked up/fucking up" or "slapped the shit out of" didn't seem the most period accurate. While I know swearing is absolutely period accurate, I'm not sure I'm convinced by the way the phrases were presented. I could be very wrong, of course, but at the time they definitely weren't keeping me engaged in the story.

Rep includes: Black female MC, a Black and Chinese lesbian couple, and a transgender boy

I got an ARC of this book.

DNF at 21%

I don't think a single thing happened in the entire time I was reading. This book gets so much praise, but I don't get it. It wasn't the worst book I had read, it was just boring.

Holy cow! This book knocked my socks off. I don't think I've read anything quite like it; a unique mash up of historical fiction and horror. I don't like Westerns typically, but this was so well executed that I actually wanted it to be longer, so rare!

Phenomenal story that kept me hooked from the first chapter and well after I had finished. LaValle writes beautifully but in a way that feels effortless and natural to read. Overall, well crafted story that blended classical horror elements with folk charm and a fresh concept.

This western inspired by the history of "lone women" homesteaders in the US follows a woman with a deadly secret locked away in her steamer trunk. But that's not the only secret lying in wait for her in Montana. And as she meets more people with secrets of their own in town, she realizes that maybe taking on this burden alone was exactly what led to her parents downfall. A really enjoyable historical fantasy horror with plenty of twists and turns.

Loving the new publishing trend of mixing horror with a period Western setting and Victor LaValle's is one of the best, exploring both literal monsters and the ways that women who exist outside of the controlling sphere of men are viewed as similarly dangerous.

I was so invested to know what was in the trunk the Lone Woman carried. When it was revealed it brought to light so many things. THe horror, suspense, nd great detail in the writing of this book was mesmerizing.

i really enjoyed it.

Lone Women by Victor LaVelle follows Adelaide Henry as she travels from California, her only home, to a land claim in Montana in the early 1900s. Why? Because she has a deep, dark secret that she must never reveal for fear of causing harm to others.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I honestly expected this to be a quick read that wouldn't have much of an impact on me, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. LaVelle weaved history, fantasy, equality, and mystery into a beautiful story of perseverance and the power of a strong woman. Lone Women was extremely well written in my opinion: the book moved at a perfect pace, and every word seemed earned and necessary to the plot. I always appreciate an author who can avoid excessive description while still providing enough details for me to picture each scene or feel each emotion in the book.

If you enjoy a good story, especially one that feels fresh and unique, I encourage you to add Lone Women to your reading list right away.

WOW. When LaValle described his work as multiple genres mushed into an entirely new thing, he wasn't wrong -- and it WORKS. The exploration of complex family relationships, the monster design, the rich worldbuilding that was clearly the result of a great deal of research -- chef's kiss. I also usually find child characters in horror irritating (because usually their authors don't know how to write from a child's perspective so they just use a grating, juvenile voice), but he was one of my favorite characters in the book. I hope LaValle explores weird Western settings more in the future!

A marvelous mix of settler experiences & accepting our monsters
The setting is vivid, characters are layered, and the story (a modern fairytale) is an engaging account of valor, friendship, family & acceptance set in the early West.
Victor LaValle tells the most original and surprising stories about people and monsters.

The review of Lone Women by Victor LaValle is in the June 2023 issue of SFRevu.com and is exclusive to them until July 1st, 2023.

Review link: <https://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=20148>

An attention grabber from the start. Adelaide Henry is the main character, and we follow her through her journey from California to Montana in 1912. She meets strong women, develops friendships with her go it alone attitude but keeps deep secrets especially with that trunk of hers. I kept reading just to find out what happens to Adelaide and this trunk. The story develops well and the mystery is revealed. A bit history and I felt a bit fantasy as well. If you are looking for a book that is a bit out there, give this a chance. Highly Recommended.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and One World for providing me a copy of Lone Women in exchange for my honest review! I was contacted via e-mail to download this one, and was very excited to see it chosen as a Book of the Month selection!

3.5 stars rounded up for this one - I will say this one was pegged as a horror work, but I think I'd describe this more as a historical fiction with some very mild horror elements. I tend to like more "camp-y" style horror, and don't typically read anything *too* intense, and this one didn't bother me whatsoever. I'm landing middle of the road (plus a half star) because the first half of the book is amazing; you get to know Adelaide and her journey to Montana, and it's a really big character-building plot, which works because I was able to really connect with her.

The second half of the book felt a little off with the pacing, and all of a sudden we were hearing from all of these characters that felt strange and hard to remember. It was a shorter book and very easy to read, but I wish the second half would've matched the first half. Overall, I really enjoyed this work, and I'd love to check out LaValle's future works - I also like to see Book of the Month offering selections outside of the traditional thriller/contemporary fiction categories, and this was a great choice.

I don't know how to feel about this book.
Their review has a *spoiler*
I enjoyed the fictional history of the main character and the womennof thr Town.
However I didn't understand the point of her sister being a monster or that multiple people have delivered this being into the world. It felt out of place and included for the horror aspect of it.When the social horror of this book is already there. Bipoc women, single motherhood, and being trans in a small town in the early 1900s. That speaks enough for the story.
I am glad that though the women endured they were able make it on their own as a group.

I just reviewed Lone Women by Victor LaValle. #LoneWomen #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This is a quick, tense read about a really interesting period/place that I, a lifelong New Englander, never really learned about. It's not scary in the way I was hoping it would be, necessarily, but I liked that it reminded me of Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass and I also really loved the style of the writing--it's funny and direct without detracting from the building dread.

This was not what I thought this was going to be, but in a good way!

Adelaide Henry burns her house down with her dead parents inside and flees California for Montana with a bigger secret.

While on her way to Montana she travels with a mother and her 4 blind sons, and one day they disappear.

While in Montana Adelaide works to keep her monstrous secret while homesteading and befriends 3 other women in the same town.

This seemed chaotic at some points but eventually it all comes full circle.

There’s a little history, monster horror, creepy small town, step-ford vibes going on here and I loved it!

I love a horror novel that layers on the haunting elements one after another. The seclusion of uncharted Montana, the nefarious people who roam that land, and the monster Adelaide brings with her, made it hard for me to put down this book. I just had to know what hell was going to be around the next corner.

If you’re in the mood for an atmospheric historical horror novel full of intriguing mysteries and compelling characters, I definitely recommend LONE WOMEN! LaValle (whose work I discovered with the excellent THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM) is a really excellent writer, and his skills are on full display here; this novel starts off with a bang, and as it goes on it combines historical fiction with horror and a delightful side of found family. It's a book about monstrosity, human and inhuman alike. The setting was almost a character unto itself: this is a trope which I really love in horror, and I thought was brilliantly done here.

All in all, a really good read, and worth picking up. Thanks so much to One World and Netgalley for the ARC!

Victor LaValle, you sicko!!! I love it. I did not see where this story was going. Or, when I did, I still felt like it was fresh and fascinating. Historical fiction is never really my jam, but when you're this good of an author, you can break all the rules.