I will be honest, this one sat in my TBR pile for a while. I don't know whether I was intimidated by it or what, but it took me a bit to pick it up. But wow, I am so glad I did.

A gorgeous blend of historical fiction and thriller bordering on horror, this is unlike any book I have ever read. What is inside the mysterious steamer trunk begins as the most important literal part of the plot, but it becomes so much more as the pages turn. I was both moved and terrified by this book, and that is mostly due to to LaValle's stunning prose.

It's 1915. Adelaide Henry finds herself in trouble after her parents are killed. She aims to be a homesteader, dragging a massive locked trunk wherever she goes. Along the way, she runs into very human monsters.

When I originally requested the book, the premise sounded interesting. Now that I finally had a chance to read it, it turns out that this book was not really for me. Although I enjoyed the parts of the female main character's journey, the obsession with the trunk and the aftermath of that threw me off. More than likely if that or the speculative fiction wasn't apart of it, I probably would have enjoyed it much more, since I'm a lover of historical fiction works.

✨ Review ✨ Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Thanks to Random House, One World and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This book has been HAUNTING my shelf for the last year, just waiting to be picked up, so it's a relief to finally read it 😂

Adelaide flees from an all-Black settlement in Southern California by boat and then train to settle on a homestead in Montana. What exactly she's fleeing and what she's bringing with her remains a mystery revealed bit by bit throughout the book. As she sets up her home in the very remote Montana wilderness, it's clear that she's in sort of over her head. And yet, a sense of mystery looms over it all.

I loved the setting of this book, and that it shows us some of the diversity of who was homesteading in these remote parts. Set miles away from neighbors and the remote town (where this weird white paternal sets up an opera house with gas lighting (that of course leaks) and an organ, and really showcases the range of economic situations), Adelaide finds people she can relate to -- a group of women off on their own.

While it does mention indigenous peoples in several places in the book, I do think it might have better grappled with how homesteading / removal "opened" up this land for settlement, but I did appreciate that some of the cast of characters was fairly diverse. I think LaValle masterly drew from scholarly literature to create this setting and show us this diversity.

The horror element of this book loomed as well, keeping me engaged as I wanted to reveal the layers within. I do think that at the end of the book (maybe the last 20%) that TOO many things were happening and all of these storylines didn't feel entirely fleshed out and resolved. I read one review that said this felt a bit like a novella, and in this "loose ends" kind of way, that struck true to me. Overall, I really enjoyed it but wished for a bit more development and resolution of some of these things (can't list them here for spoilers.)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: historical fiction + horror
Setting: rural Montana
Pub Date: 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ finding Black voices in unexpected places in the past
⭕️ rural settings
⭕️ race/gender conflict
⭕️ horror mixed with historical fiction
⭕️ great historical research

In the early 20th Century, a Black woman named Adelaide Henry sets out from California to the wilds of Montana. Like many others, she dreams of homesteading a much-hyped paradise. Everywhere she goes, she lugs an enormous steamer trunk…which she sings to as it makes ominous thumping sounds.

Montana turns out to be anything but a paradise. The weather is unimaginably brutal, and the physical labor of setting up a homestead is unrelenting. Worst of all is the crushing loneliness. From practically the moment she sets foot in the shack that came with her deed, neighbors appear--women desperate for a friend, and men equally desperate for female company and possible courtship.
Not all the visitors are benign and they all harbor secrets. There’s a family of grifters, thieves, and murderers, whose innocent-appearing blind children are the most vicious of the lot. A single woman schoolteacher with a clouded past and a child shunned inexplicably by everyone. A lesbian couple, one Black, one Chinese. Adelaide, with her work ethic and essential decency, soon settles into the community. She’s ever anxious to protect her own secret:

What’s in the trunk? And what havoc will it wreak if it gets out?

Gorgeously written, the book alternates between passages of emotional depth and suspense horror. Everyone hides something, and some secrets are more deadly than others. The layered unveiling of those secrets, and the compassion of the central character are handled with exceptional skill.

Highly recommended.

I won't lie, as much as I enjoyed this book, it was a slow read for me. I kept waiting for something to happen while still enjoying the creeping unfolding of Adelaide's dark past. And I spent a lot of the book wanting to know the secret of what Adelaide carries in her steamer trunk. After the reveal, though, I raced to the end, and loved it the whole way.

My favorite part of this book was probably how complex LaValle made all of his characters. No character mentioned was shorted on backstory. Sometimes, I would get to a new chapter and realize it was about a side character I didn't even realize was important (they all were) and Lavalle would spend that chapter building this character up in front of me. Each one mentioned was given a past and the slow explanations throughout of what led to their current motives, good or bad.

I also enjoyed that there were twists throughout, and that the characters that often looked good and honest were our real baddies. The characters were complex and their relationships with each other were twisted and sometimes blackened, rotted things that were interesting to trace throughout the novel.

This is one of my first read of a Lavalle novel (other than his short story) and I can't wait to continue with more! I would recommend to those that enjoy historical fiction with something a little dark and fantastical added in.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

This book was not at all what I expected! Though part historical fiction, Lone Women brings an element of horror that is equal parts mystifying and wild. The first few chapters had me VERY curious about what Adelaide was carrying in her trunk. Once it was revealed, I was a bit shocked, and then extremely shocked when more details came to light. The first chapter opens with the death of Adelaide's parents, and leaves us in the dark about her involvement in their deaths. I loved how the backstory slowly unraveled.

On the historical fiction side, I really enjoyed learning about homesteading and how a young single black woman navigated living on her own in a vast Montana plain. The side characters were intriguing, and one prominent couple made me so angry!

This book was very different, and though the last few chapters were pretty out there, I enjoyed the ride and touch of feminism in the final pages.

This was recommended to me by one of my best friends, but while the opening has a lot of potential and intrigue, it also felt really slow and like nothing was happening.

"Lone Women" by Victor LaValle is a chilling and haunting exploration of isolation, fear, and the horrors that lurk in the shadows. LaValle's masterful storytelling pulls readers into a world where nothing is as it seems, delivering a spine-tingling experience that lingers long after the final page. With its blend of psychological depth and supernatural elements, "Lone Women" is a must-read for fans of dark fiction.

Lone Women hits the ground running with a fascinating opening set-up. And though it occasionally loses its way, it is, for the most part, an eerie, eldritch, compelling tale that winds its way through a handful of different genres, refusing to be limited to any single obvious, predictable narrative.

I wish there was a shade more cohesion from beginning to end, though, especially with the conclusion, but I loved seeing glimpses of so many different lives and souls, all drawn in one way or another to this inhospitable region, all fighting for survival - of one sort or another.

I would like to thank Penguin Random House for providing a digital copy of this novel. Adelaide leaves California for Montana along with her steamer trunk in an attempt to start a new life and forget her past. There lies a secret that she keeps and this is slowly revealed. The secret contributes to the horror elements of this novel. She uses the secret to face those that have wronged her, including a group of criminal brothers. the story is parts redemption, parts revenge story. I enjoyed many of the reveals. The author uses the horror aspects quite effectively. This was a solid read.

To me this wasn't horror. Maybe historical with a fantasy twist? Paranormal addition to historical? So hard to genrify. I did love Adelaide's story though, and how we slowly learned more and more about the monster. I did think the ending wrapped up a bit too nicely--her sister ends up playing with the children at the end? All she needed was loved? Really? The whole Mrs .Mudge/boys/murdering thing was just weird. They washed sheets in kerosene? How did they smoke in bed at the hotel? "I came here with my sister." Loved how all the women came to live in Two Sisters, Montana.

Very good book. I liked the style of writing as well as the story, which got intense at times. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

This book had me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time I was reading it. I love a good story about hidden family secrets and Victor LaValle did not disappoint!

When you read this story, you will encounter multiple POVs. The short chapters will you a sense of urgency that the Main Character feels as she moves along her journey. This story is set in the historical time period where women were considered the weaker sex and did not have rights. However, the Main character, Adelaide knew that the only way for her to survive was to conquer the unconquerable. This is a story that you have to sit down and fall into. The author does a fantastic job storytelling and all the details they share throughout the story help the reader live out Adelaide's journey.

If you are looking for historical gothic horror, grab this book as fast as you can!

I wanted to like this one but it was a struggle. I didn’t enjoy or relate to any of the characters. Thanks for the review copy.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Lone Women and I'm glad I didn't. I think if I knew what was hiding in the trunk I would have skipped it and that would have been a shame. This was a page turning read for me and very well written.

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the setting and atmosphere of this book. I would say the book has horror elements but never once was it scary. It felt more like a horror book commenting on social aspects than a straight horror. That is not to say it didn't work or that I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed the glimpses into the other characters that we got but I do wish we had a little more backstory and insight into them. It may have worked better as a story told from switching perspectives than the narration style it went with. Overall I did enjoy the concept and most of the execution.

I was invited to read this book because I had enjoyed another book of what we are calling Magical Suspense (Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.) I had, frankly, forgotten about it until I reviewed my “to be read” list and realized I had missed it.
The parts of me that are haunted by nightmares and a vivid imagination may wish I had left it on the shelf, but the part of me that loves good storytelling, historical fiction, strong women characters, and creativity appreciates that I did not.
The story is set in the early 1900s American west. Adelaide, the protagonist is a thirty-year-old black woman who’s been raised on a fertile plum farm in an all black agricultural community in California. Adelaide must leave California alone and based on an article she’s read about homestead land in Montana, which is open both to “lone women” and black people, she sets Montana as her new destination.
All she brings with her are a travel bag, and a huge, heavy, locked trunk. The perils she encounters trying to move the trunk from the train station to the ship to the wagon that will take her to Montana make the reader frustrated. What is in that trunk?
And then we find out. The contents will hover over the reader and Adelaide as she finds her new home, settles in, and even makes friends. But some secrets just won’t stay locked away.
TW: there is a significant amount of blood in this book, so if that makes you queasy, you might skip this one. It is “magical suspense” but could easily be classified as horror as well. That said, it is a quick read, and had much to say about the hardiness of frontier women.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this review copy. The book was published March 28, 2023.

Historical horror with a touch of magical realism? Absolutely, yes! The characters are well developed and dynamic, the atmosphere is haunting and expansive. There are some scenes in the book that are now hard wired into my brain - I cannot stop thinking about them. There were a couple moments where the pacing felt a little off to me but it didn’t take me out of the story whatsoever. This is a book I would read again in the future and recommend to friends. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I sort of put off reading this book cuz of all the hype that was surrounding it, but I get it now. And honestly I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner. It has so many things that I love in a book. Historical timeline, strong women, the supernatural, feminism, and a really cool setting. I love how diverse and open-minded the cast of characters were especially considering the timeline, perhaps that was the most magical part of the book. I don't want to really give anything about the plot away because they're quite a few little interesting choices that the author made that really added so much to the story but I will say it was very well thought out and very well written. I do wish that the more climactic scene towards the end of the book would have been more detailed/gory, but that's personal preference. I also really really like how although the creature / beast was described and implied to be one thing it was also given the space within the story to be multidimensional and multifaceted and the fact that there was a character growth within the story is fascinating to me. The story that we start with is not the one that we end up with and I loved it.