An amazing fantastic tale that follows a woman of color from her home in Southern California to a homestead in the prairie at the beginning of the 20th century. As many books I have read recently, this book touched upon some very interesting ideas - sexuality, race, differences, disabilities, and the behaviors of people. I greatly enjoyed this book because it took an interesting and new, fresh look at a time and place we have all taken in a lot of media regarding : the wild west. The writing and characters were amazing. We follow Adelaide Henry as she escapes...something. Or does she? The story was so relatable despite the fantastical elements, and I would highly recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed frontier writing but wants a science fiction or fantasy element added - you won't regret it!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lone Women is the latest novel from author Victor Lavalle, one of the more accclaimed - and deservedly so - writers out there over the last few years. His Lovecraft subversion The Ballad of Black Tom was a brilliant take on one of Lovecraft's more racist stories and his novel The Changeling was just absolutely brilliant in its dark modern fairy tale. That latter novel dealt not only with modern racism, but the refusal of society to listen to women in New York City, and Lone Women promises similar themes...except this time in a Western setting out in 1915 Montana.

And the result is similarly spectacular, even if it doesn't quite reach The Changeling's heights. Lone Women tells the story of women attempting to take advantage of the government's giving away of land to anyone who would grow on the land for a specific (3 years) length of time. More particularly it tells the story of women who are outcasts for various reasons, who don't fit in "normal" white cis hetero society, such as its main protagonist Adelaine Henry, a Black woman haunted by a monster she carries in a steamer trunk, but also a bunch of others. And the story really works as it combines its western setting with horror tropes to tell a story of racism, of hatred of those who are others that don't fit in, of found family, and more. It's another real winner from LaValle.



----------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------
Adelaide Henry spent the first thirty one years of her life on her parents' Lucerne Valley farm in California, the only land in which Black settlers were allowed to make a claim there. Now it is the year 1915 and her parents are dead, victims of the curse that had isolated them and Adelaide from their community, the curse that lives in the Seward steamer trunk in her possession. And so Adelaide sets fire to the house and sets out for freedom, following an idea put into her head by a letter titled "Success of a Lone Woman", whereby a woman moved to Montana and, taking advantage of a government grant of land for anyone willing to work it for three years, had made a free life for herself. Adelaide takes with her only her meager possessions....and the Steamer Trunk.

But after the difficult journey, Adelaide makes it to Montana to find a cold harsh land sparsely settled, with only one other black person nearby. The white community she finds there is oddly supportive...but Adelaide refuses to keep her guard down, knowing what could happen if the Steamer trunk is ever opened by a curious neighbor...and knowing just as well how White people can be. And yet, Adelaide can't help but feel some kindred spirit to some of the more oddball people in town - single mother Grace and her son Sam or fellow Black woman Bertie and her Asian companion Fiona most of all.

Still, when a prospective suiter gets too curious and a con-artist family of outlaws get their eyes on Adelaide, it becomes clear that Adelaide's status quo cannot hold, and the curse cannot be kept locked away. And though that may give Adelaide a sense of freedom for a bit, once people in the area start dying, it will become clear that she must make a choice about how she can confront the monster of her past so that she can possibly have a future.....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lone Women is sort of a combination of a Western and a Gothic Horror to a certain extent, and like with such novels, it's tricky to describe the plot summary without spoiling. The novel is largely told from Adelaide's point of view, as its lead protagonist, but it jumps around at times, with certain chapters told from the perspective of other outsider characters and a few told from the perspective of others, most notably one antagonist character who undergoes a bit of character development throughout.

In Adelaide the book finds its exemplar: one of the titular Lone Women who has set out because something about her sets her apart from "normal" society and keeps her on her own, even when she doesn't like to be. For Adelaide that is two things: her skin-color and the monster she carries with her locked away, a monster that she refuses to accept for much of the book. One thing the book makes quite clear is that in the rough atmosphere of Montana, her differences are things that are looked past for quite a while - after all, in this cold dangerous land, everyone needs to stick out for each other. And yet, as things start going wrong, those differences come back to the fore, as Adelaide sort of expected, leaving her in danger. But there are other Lone Women and people the book introduces. So there's Grace, the single mother who is ostracized for how she elects to raise and teach her son (rot13 spoiler: gur fba vf genaf) in ways that don't fit what is accepted in white norm society. There's Bertie and Fiona, the black woman who earned her claim through 3 years of work and now has converted her land to a pub essentially (just prior to prohibition led by the white women in town) and wants to live in peace with her lover, Fiona, the Asian Laundress who is even more discriminated against than the two blacks in town. All of these women have something that sets them apart, from their skin color to their queerness, to how they treat the others they care about, and that prevents them from fitting in with the society that seems "normal around them".

And yet their otherness, once they each learn to accept it, stands in sharp contrast to the others who are supposedly normal in town, who limit themselves and seem in the book to be well just kind of awful. There's the rich couple who runs the town essentially, with the man liking to play cards and drink but figuring himself better than admitting it and better than anyone else, valuing himself above all else and not really caring for anyone who is hurt (and who leads a posse to strangle anyone who could threaten their lifestyle). Then there's his wife, the true leader of the town, who tries to insist to those in town that they are special for braving the cold but really is just a domineering woman who refuses to accept things that aren't normal...even if they're people or things close to her, and is revealed to be traumatized from something from years ago. And then there's a family of a mother and four boys who are con artist theives who try to take advantage of how far apart everyone is, who are utterly selfish and use as an excuse their struggling for taking things from everyone.

This contrast between the Lone Women and between the normal society works really well, as the story uses its horror and western setting to tell a story that is INSANELY suspenseful, such that I had to hold my breath while reading. The themes work really well, and the ending, as Adelaide and the others band together and learn to accept their own bits of strangeness, and the stragneness of those around them, works extremely well. There's one major subplot which I didn't feel worked quite so well - featuring a character who is antagonist who makes a surprising decision to turn things around in the end - which just felt off and way too abrupt to work for me.

But otherwise the suspense, the thrilling plot, and the excellent themes and characters really work damn well here, and I strongly recommend Lone Women, like I have all of LaValle's work.

This book was excellent. The story was gripping, gritty, relatable. I loved the complicated characters—Adelaide and her parents, Grace and Sam, Fiona and Bertie and the Reeds. Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5
I loved this book. It was atmospheric and creepy. The writing may have been the best part. It was so well-written that it made it easy for me to picture everything happening. It felt like a little too much was happening at the end, but other than that I would definitely recommend this.

I’ve been talking about this book for a week! Captivating from the first page, I could not put it down even when it got a little wonky with what was in the trunk. The characters are fascinating and the setting/premise -western pioneering- one of my favorites. I enjoyed this book very much.

Lone Women by Victor Lavalle was the perfect read for the isolation of winter. The setting (homesteads in Montana) was lonely and desolate, but I was able to see the beauty in the isolation and the freedom it offered the main character, Adelaide.

First Impressions:

The beginning of the book put the reader smack into the middle of chaos. I was hooked from the first few pages wondering what exactly Adelaide was hiding.

This was a blend of historical fiction, family drama and the supernatural. I loved Adelaide for her imperfections and her strength.

Lone Women

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so different from my normal reads, I’m not sure what to think. Adelaide leaves her home to start a new life in Montana with a mysterious trunk. A she navigates life there, we meet a diverse cast of lovable characters.

I think the characters were my favorite part of this. I’m not big into the horror parts and that ended up filling most of the book. Short and different from my usual!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC.

Victor Lavelle does it again! There’s not much to say beyond beautifully atmospheric, stellar writing, genius premise, and a story that leaves a reader wanting more. I swear it got better with each page.

Atmospheric with a creep factor that slowly builds as we dread finding out what's in the trunk and yet we can't stop turning the pages in this genre blending horror/thriller/historical tale.

This is my first LaValle, but it will not be my last! I loved everything about this novel. The setting and time period is devine for this story, and I really rooted for these women. I also loved the way LaValle alternated perspectives mid-chapter to tell the events of the story.
Not to mention, perfectly gory and unsettling! A solid ending wraps everything up nicely!

This book will definitely be on my best of list at the end of this year. It was fantastic and was so many things rolled into one without being overwhelming or confusing. Adelaide Henry is starting a new life in Montana under mysterious circumstances and a trunk full of secrets. The reader is lucky to not know much more than this as it makes for a suspense building read. Along the way we are treated to a well described setting that is almost another character, strong, adventurous women, topics such as racism, greed, LGBTQ, loyalty and more. The ending was my favorite part....a slow build to this big suspenseful climax that left me on the edge of my couch. This book was beautiful, exciting, interesting, surprising and more. I loved it.

I receive an advance reading copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I've been in a horror mood lately, and when I saw the synopsis for this, I couldn't wait to read it. Thankfully, NetGalley had it. It was really atmospheric and the mystery of what was in the trunk was very intriguing, but I wish some things were better explained <spoiler> (like exactly who Elizabeth was and how she came to be). Also, it's very apparent that the true monster is not Elizabeth, but the Reeds.</spoiler> I would give the first 2/3 four stars, but the lack of explanations near the end takes it down to a 3 for me.

Wow what a fantastic read from LaValle that blends horror, fantasy, and historical fiction, with a strong Black woman at the helm of it all. I loved following her journey to Montana, dragging along a heavy secret in her sole trunk, then developing relationships that are tested by that very secret.

Lone Women
By Victor LaValle

I’m new to horror books, this was surprisingly not that scary to me. There was maybe one or two parts that might get to you if you get queasy.
I thought I would be giving this book four stars and I think I did originally. Now a week later as I’m writing this review I think I would give it a three. I see a lot of five star rankings for this one and I hate being in the minority. Maybe it’s because it was a new genre for me? Maybe because I didn’t connect with the characters all too much? But the ending is what got me. I just didn’t care for the way the author ended the story. The writing was well done. The plot was very unique and the setting was well depicted. I found the book to be creepy, more so than scary. I would still suggest this to others and think readers who normally would choose historical fiction and horror would enjoy this! Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read outside of my comfort zone!

The author had me at Montana. That said, the story itself was just icing on the cake. If you are looking for a read that keeps you wondering about a disappearance, what happens next, or just to gain insights about the time period (early 1900's), this is the book for you. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!

Though he’s primarily a horror writer and I’m not primarily a horror reader, I was really impressed with the first two books I read by Victor LaValle. So when I saw that his next novel was a blend of horror with historical fiction, I didn’t pause more than a second before putting it on the TBR, despite a subgenre combination far outside my wheelhouse. And Lone Women didn’t make me regret it for a second.

While the narration periodically skips to side characters to deliver larger context, Lone Women is primarily the story of Adelaide Henry, an early 20th century Black farmer who flees to Montana for a fresh start after the unnatural deaths of her parents. But homesteading near the Canadian border is much more dangerous than she’d been led to believe, and it’s hard to make a fresh start when she travels in the company of the enormous steamer trunk containing her most deadly secret.

It’s part homesteading novel, part Gothic horror; in the hackneyed “X meets Y” style, you could call it a cross between Laura Ingalls Wilder and Edgar Allan Poe—but Black!—and get pretty close. And like everything else I’ve read by LaValle, it’s utterly gripping. The tension is set from the start, with Adelaide fleeing a bloody family farm with little more than the clothes on her back, a handful of cash, and trunk that must under no circumstances be unlocked in the presence of anyone but herself. The promise of a monster and the mystery of its nature keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, and the atmosphere is only heightened when the Montana snows sees Adelaide woefully unprepared and in need of neighborly assistance just to survive.

It’s possible that a novel of only 300 pages could sustain that unrelenting tension for its entire length, but Lone Women instead takes a breath in its second act. The same dangers still exist, and both the readers and the characters know they can’t be ignored forever, but they briefly fade deeper into the background while the novel fleshes out the setting and some of the side characters.

And while LaValle writes well enough that I enjoyed the less intense sections of the story, there were times that I worried it was just a way to stretch a scant story into the length of a novel. I really shouldn’t have. As the book nears its close, the dangers come rushing back to the forefront, and nearly every digression from the first two-thirds of the story sets the stage for another element of a finish that pulls together more subplots than I would’ve thought possible. There’s a story of redemption, of friendship, of family, of wealth, race, gender and historical erasure, and—not to be forgotten—of monsters. It’s tense, it’s thrilling, it has thematic depth for days, and no character is given short shrift.

It’s difficult to pull so many subplots together and maintain the kind of tension that drives a Gothic horror novel, but Lone Women did so admirably. There was perhaps one short scene that I had to read twice to understand how it fit into the whole, but everything else was nearly perfect, with each individual subplot adding not merely to the depth of the theme or the cast, but coming together to build the kind of momentum that creates an ending that is absolutely impossible to put down.

Lone Women is a novel that checks all the boxes. It’s compact and poses little barrier of entry, while delivering great characters, thematic depth, and plenty of scares. As someone who doesn’t read much Gothic horror, I was hooked by the immediate tension, but even more so by how much the book had to offer beyond just atmosphere. It’s safe to say that my impulse to keep reading LaValle has been rewarded, and as the first book I read in 2023, it set an incredibly high bar for the rest of the year to follow.

Recommended if you like: Gothic horror, frontier settings.

Overall rating: 18 of Tar Vol’s 20. Five stars on Goodreads.

Wow. This was fantastic! It’s the first book I’ve read by Victor LaValle, but I’ll definitely look for more now. The story grabs you from the first chapter. A Black woman heads to Montana to homestead, escaping from something…bringing along a mysterious steamer trunk. And she keeps making sure it’s locked.

She meets a great cast of characters, “lone women” out to make lives for themselves. They’re there for each other, support each other, have each other’s backs. I loved this book. The story takes turns you don’t expect. The grit and determination and trials these people go through, and the horror/not horror that reveals itself…We don’t want to say too much because it would be a crime to spoil it. The ending was so beautifully perfect.

It’s historical fiction with a little horror thrown in. It’s hard to describe. This was a five star book for me. It comes out March 28. Thank you to One World, Random House, and NetGalley for my copy.

I adored this book. I'm so glad I read it and that LaValle has a rich backlist for me to dive into. I loved that this book had a supernatural element to it, but that it was not a supernatural book. The element existed alongside normal society and the characters and plot interacted around it. I thoroughly enjoyed the protagonist and the ups and downs she experienced in her journey. The setting was vivid and electric. I really did not guess the major twist at all but when it was revealed, it made perfect sense. This was such an atmospheric novel--I think people will fall in love with it entirely.

3 Stars

Afer Adelaide sets her home on fire, with her parents in their bedroom, she leaves to start over in Montana. However, Adelaide does not travel alone. As a black female, she encounters many obstacles as she travels and looks to build a new life in Montana, but none are bigger than the baggage she carries with her.

I am still not sure how I feel about Lone Women. The book was well written and I feel like the storyline was okay, but the horror aspect of the book was odd to me. I loved the diverse set of characters and the community that Adelaide forms after leaving her home but this book wasn't my favorite.

Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Every so often a book comes along that grabs you by the reins in its opening pages, gallops through its unrelenting narrative, and ends with a bullseye denouement. It’s my pleasure to say #LoneWomen by Victor LaValle is such a novel. The year is 1915 and 31 year old African American Adelaide Henry has a secret and is seeking refuge to keep it hidden. She settles in Big Sandy Montana, a tiny wilderness town whose small population includes other “ lone women”. #Lone Women is an allegorical' poetic, always thrilling telling of the oldest yarn in the books - good versus evil and what a tale it is. Buckle up - you’re in for a wild ride !