In 1914, Adelaide Henry rushes from her home nestled in a California valley after lighting it on fire with the bodies of her parents inside. She takes with her an enormous steamer trunk that remains padlocked at all times.
Adelaide drags the trunk across the American West, arriving in Big Sandy, Montana to take advantage of the government's offer of free land to those willing to cultivate it.
Soon she meets other lone women who have braved the elements to homestead. She almost feels she can let her guard down, start a new life ...

until the trunk is opened. 

Victor LaValle is easily one of my favorite writers and Lone Women is easily a favorite book of 2023. The short chapters create so much tension and kept me racing through the pages to discover what was in that trunk! For such a relatively short book, LaValle created an impressive group of fully-realized characters (and I loved that they were all strong females!) and combined historical fiction with chilling horror and fantasy elements!

HUGE thanks to Random House - One World and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Lone Women will be released March 28, 2023.

This book is so interesting!

I really enjoyed the history behind this book. History that no one knows about. That’s the kind of history I love. I also loved the horrorish element, though I think it’s more a cautionary tale of inclusion. A tale of thinking for yourself and not following your parents thoughts “just because you were raised that way.” As far as horror goes, it skims the surface for me, though I’ve read few books in the genre. To me, this is more a dark historical fiction. Either way, I really enjoyed the journey. I enjoyed the literary metaphors and elements. I loved the message.

What an amazing read, a horror story that is so much more then that. It’s a story about monsters that are born, monsters that can take human form, loneliness, fear of the unknown and fear of something that looks or acts a little different then “normal.”

Pretty sure this will be one of my top books of 2023. Highly recommend. Lone Women is my first Victor LaValle book but it won’t be my last.

I was intrigued by Adelaide’s speedy departure and ensuing trek to establish herself as a homesteader. She interacted with quite a few memorable “Wild West” characters. And there was always the mystery of what was in her trunk.
However, when the creature made its first appearance, I could not continue. Supernatural horror is just not my thing.
Thank you for sharing your story pre-publication.

Adelaide leaves her home in California following the seemingly mysterious death of her parents and moves to Montana as a homesteader, bringing only a locked steamer trunk with unknown contents. As she begins her life as one of a few “lone women” homesteading in the area and begins to make friends, the secret in her trunk manages to escape terrorizing the locals, both people and animals. Fears of the unknown plus individual secrets turn the townspeople and other homesteaders into vigilantes necessitating the lone women to band together as they become the only ones level headed enough to find a solution to the terror.
This is definitely not a genre that I usually read but this book pulled me into the intrigue immediately with Adelaide disposing of her parents’ bodies and fleeing to Montana. The intrigue continued with the very unusual characters that she encounters and I was hooked and had to find out where the story was going. I enjoyed the way the side stories such as Fiona traveling to ghost towns seemed irrelevant but came together in the end. This book probably won’t appeal to everyone because it’s just so weird and unreal but I think the author did a good job of creating an entertaining story while portraying how differences and fear can turn people into the real monsters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the Advanced Reader Copy.

I had no idea what I was getting into with Lone Women, as this book was labeled historical fiction and horror. You'll gasp at the end of each parts, and forcibly you'll kept reading to know what is happening. There are unexpected friendships, strong women and a trunk that holds deadly secrets.

Lone Women is a dark, unique story.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Random House, One World for the complimentary copy.

Whoa…what a surprise! Such a mix of genres - historical fiction, mystery, family drama, horror, edge of your seat suspense with twists and turns thrown in along the way - all combined into one engrossing reading experience. As a reader I still have questions about how and why but I did not want to put this read down.
Adelaide, a thirty one year old woman, escapes her childhood home under a huge cloud of suspicion with an extremely heavy trunk she does not want out of her sight. Immediately the reader is pulled in making assumptions about what has happened. As she travels to find a new home far away, her past travels with her and is revealed little by little.
Victor LaValle grabs hold of you and pushes and pulls you along a roller coaster track, slowing down, gathering speed and rocketing along sharing his unbelievable storyline. I was unable to identify with any of the characters but the storyline is so powerful it keeps the car on the track and the reader engrossed in the tale.
I so love when a book is a total surprise to me and this read certainly was. My sincere appreciation to Victor LaValle who captivated me and held me hostage on my couch for hours, One World for publishing it, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this soon to be published twisted tale.

It’s 1914 and Adelaide Henry is packing up stakes and leaving California after losing everything near and dear to her. She’s taking only a small bag and a large padlocked steamer trunk with her. Hearing that Montana has no rules about lone women purchasing property, Adelaide picks a plot and stakes a claim in the rural town of Big Sandy. There is some serious baggage she’s carrying with her and anyone that’s too interested in her trunk comes to a bad ending. What exactly is in there? We don’t have to wait overly long to find out, but once the cats out of the bag, it’s too late to put it back in! This book was a strange mix of historical fiction and horror, something I would have never thought to put together. While well written, this dark and dreary read was not for me! Thank you to One World and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Lone Women is beautifully written, multi-layered historical fiction with a vivid sense of setting and atmosphere. I felt like I was alongside the characters on this cold, vast, isolated land.

The characters are well developed, complex, and real enough to step off the pages. I loved Adelaide, and her predicament broke my heart.

This book is marketed as horror, but if you’re not a fan of the genre, don’t let that deter you. The horror aspect feels like an allegory, a symbol of things I can't talk about because of spoilers. It’s not overdone or full of gore. Instead, it’s a poignant backdrop that brings us to a thought-provoking conclusion.

It's 1914 and Adelaide has a secret- a big horrific secret. This blends historical fiction with an unusual undertone (until it's right out there) of horror. She's moved to Montana, dragging with her a large locked trunk, where she plans to homestead in an area where there are only two other black people. Along the way she meets an odd woman with four blind sons- keep your eye on this group. Things are tough when you move to a shack with nothing, including food, but luckily her closest neighbor arrives on horseback with her son- they've got secrets too. The nearest town is dominated by the Reeds- not good people. Sorry but this truly deserves to be experienced without expectations because it's twisty and frankly surprising. LaValle pulled me in early, when I thought Adelaide was running because of what happened to her parents (which is true) and then it seemed like a fairly conventional yarn about a black woman struggling to make it as a homesteader but then, wow! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Great tension, intricate plotting, and intriguing characters made this a terrific read.

I'm not usually drawn to the early US homesteading period of historical fiction, but the promised twists were intriguing, and didn't disappoint. Adelaide had a lot of baggage she'd been carrying around all of her life, in the form of an enormous steamer trunk. Although it was less about the trunk than what it held, and that's where the darkness starts. Some of the homesteading details seemed a bit unrealistic, and on the whole the story didn't get as detailed as I would have liked, but rather remained a little superficial, which ended up keeping me just out of the story enough to not be fully engaged. I think there could have been a bigger grab and more intensity which would have bumped it up to a 5 star rating for me, but overall this was a solid story and well worth your time.

My thanks to Random House/One World, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hate to say this book wasn’t for me but I just could not get myself to enjoy it. The story opens with Adelaide setting fire to her home, with her deceased parents inside, and leaving for Montana with nothing but her secretive locked trunk. Solid start but from there I was so bored. I couldn’t connect with Adelaide and just didn’t care what happened to her or even what was in the mysterious trunk. This didn’t read as horror to me, even in the metaphorical sense, and I’m overall disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and One World for an ARC of this title.

What a delight of a book. I'm not a huge historical fantasy person, but this hit the right blend of well-researched and well-written. The setting and details of frontier life in Montana during homesteading feels fully thought out (there's fantastic world building happening), and the various characters that make up the town feel fleshed-out and complex. LaValle knows his hand and plays each of his cards at the right time, revealing a new layer to the supernatural dealings, and though the moment right before the finale felt a smidge rushed and occasionally hard to follow (a lot of characters make a LOT of choices leading into the finale), I loved the ending.

Thanks Random House and Netgalley for providing this ARC. I enjoyed this mix of historical fiction and the supernatural/horror a lot. LaValle did a good job mixing in some current issues without detracting from the plot or feeling like certain topics were inserted to check a box. It all worked quite well.

Actually, 4 1/2 stars.

Adelaide Henry is a Black woman who escapes after her parents’ murders, taking an enormous steamer trunk with her to Washington. She ends up in Montana after taking advantage of some free land with a cabin, sight unseen. Funny thing, she is not alone and has a big secret and the reason why she fled after her parents were killed.

This historical horror tells about wide-open space when the West was still being settled where one could hide a horrifying secret. A secret that maybe too monstrous. If you love historical horror, this book hits all the dark spots. And yet, lovers of American history fiction will love it too.

This is a novel that gives you the “need to know” feeling from page one. This is a wonderful Historical Fiction with a bit of fantasy/horroresque!
Such a good book!!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW. Thank you a million times over to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-ARC. Lone Women was absolutely a WILD and amazing ride. "Horror" done right! The pacing was steady and the characters well rounded. I wanted more, and will most certainly add this author to my "must reads" list! Formal review will be available on GoodReads, socials & Amazon.

This was my first foray into the works of Victor LaValle but it definitely won’t be my last. This was such a strange blend of historical fiction, mystery, and horror but it was done so well. I had no idea what was going on with Adelaide during the first fifteen percent. Once things started getting revealed, I was even more intrigued.

The only issue I had was that the pacing seemed to fall off in the last half. We go from primarily following Adelaide to having a few more perspectives introduced and it really slowed things down for me. The additions were necessary to flesh out the narrative, but it was a little jarring.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group-Random House/One World, and Victor LaValle for an e-arc of Lone Women in exchange for an honest review.

A 3 star horror x historical fiction. To talk about this book beyond the blurb would be to give spoilers, so I’m just going to leave it vague. I enjoyed it, I related to Adelaide although I can see how other reviewers wouldn’t be able to put themselves in her circumstances, and it was a fun, quick read.

From the publisher:
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.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle is expected out March 28th, 2023 from One World.

My Thoughts:

Adelaide Henry is a strong woman. She's able to leave most of her past behind her, save what's in her trunk. Not that she doesn't have regrets perhaps, but rather that she is moving forward - taking positive action in light of what went before. Whatever is in that trunk though must be mighty important. But, it's for her eyes only. Dangerous things happen when other people open her trunk. I found the mystery surrounding the trunk irresistible.

I liked Adelaide and the other women she befriends out in the sparsely populated area of Big Sandy, Montana. Some of the other folks, not so much. They were sneaky and kept the dark side of themselves hidden for the most part. I especially enjoyed watching her friendship with Grace and Sam grow.

The pacing of the book was good. The building of tension and the twists was nicely done as well. I found it hard to put the book down. The ending surprised me in a good way.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. This blend of historical fantasy, western, and horror makes for a good read. You might also consider it as part of the weird western genre. I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy those genres or if you've read other works by Victor LaValle.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinions.