What a deeply entertaining book! It's a little outside of my normal genre and yet I was pulled into this strange and unexpected story. A little bit western, a little bit of horror, a pinch of magical realism.. and a whole lot of feminine power. Loved it! Thanks for the chance to read an early copy.

An intriguing twist on a little known time and place in American history. The reader will be rooting for Adelaide to succeed while constantly wondering why she ran away from home in the first place. A story full of hope, mystery, friendship, and fear. This was an interesting book.

Adelaide Henry carries a heavy burden. She harbors a steamer trunk full of mayhem and destruction as inescapable as death itself. To hide her terrible secret, Adelaide must disappear, leave California without a trace, and start over as far away as her limited funds will allow. But unable or unwilling to leave the trunk behind, she lugs it with her. Up and coming Big Sandy, Montana seems full of promise, offering Adelaide the anonymity and simple life she desires. Except Big Sandy has dark secrets of its own, a place where scoundrels abound, where hopes and dreams go to die. LaValle’s action is relentless, and his imagination goes way, way outside the box. The story is intriguing, inventive, and filled with wonderfully awful things that engage all of the Reader’s senses. Gentle readers be warned, there is a good bit of gore in this one. Still, a compelling read with plot twists galore.

Lone Women is a perfect blend of thriller, historical fiction and horror in a western setting that shows Victor LaValle's prowess when it comes to characters, setting and overall suspense that crafts a beautiful, sweeping story.

LaValle creates characters that feel realistic and feel like they have been pulled from a history book which lends major respect to LaValle as a writer. Adelaide as a protagonist is written spectacularly and the suspense that is built from the trunk that she is carrying is great as well as other characters including Sam and his mother, the other townsfolk and even the villains are all superb.

LaValle also is great at blending these genres and never falling into cliches that could hurt the book or cause me to want to stop reading and I never felt like that while reading this book.

Lone Women is a must read and one of the best horror books that I have read in a long time!

I have been waiting for so long for a book just like this and it was delivered with tension, fully realized characters, and loooots of mayhem.

My only complaint is that I can’t read it for the first time again.

Unfortunately, I don't think I truly understood this book. I thought when it started it was very intriguing and I was entertained. I thought the premise was unique and I was excited to see where it went. However, as the story progressed, I wasn't really sure where the storyline was going or what was the point. The ending was just as puzzling as the middle. I was left wondering "why". I think my lack of interpretation played into this lack of understanding. Thats all I can think. I wish the best for the author and hope that many people read and love this book. Just wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Victor LaValle, and One World for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 5

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

This was such a fascinating read! My first by the author but I’m intrigued to read more of his because I loved his writing style and the development of the plot. Lone Women had so much mystery that you wanted to keep turning the page.

Adelaide Henry is leaving her family’s farm for the first time in over 30 years, and with her she brings a lot of baggage. Literally. She is bringing a very heavy trunk with a secret she has been protecting for all her life. This secret gets out while she is trying to make a life for herself in Montana, and this is the biggest plot line.

The woman making lives for themselves in Montana are bad asses but each carrying their own secrets which makes for a compelling novel that will continue to leave you hooked each chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and One World for the eArC!

I will be posting my review on my Instagram, Bookishlyshan within the month.

Creepy, fantastical historical fiction that complicates the stories we tell about the past. LaValle is a master at creating tension. This comes out in the spring, but it would be excellent fall/spooky season reading.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

This isn’t a book I had on my radar, and not one I’d typically pick up. But when the publisher reached out to me and asked me to review it, I decided to give it a chance. And man am I so glad that I did! I am truly blown away by this novel. It is something else, something other, in a class all of its own, and I was hanging onto every word. It’s so much better than I ever could have expected.

Part historical, horror, fantasy, and western - it is all these things and so much more. Set in the early 20th century, the world-building of this story is impeccable. I felt like I was on a journey in the Western frontier, in the harsh, cold, desolate plains of Montana. The culture and society the author builds within the story creates a climate that is representative of the era.

And throughout it all, this story speaks to the difficulties experienced during the beginnings of the womens’ suffragettes movements during this time period, as well as the struggles that people of color and people of other cultures/nationalities faced. We see the enmity and oppression that the characters are confronted with. It is also a story about the bonds of family, especially the consequences when those bonds are strained. It shows the stark impact that a child’s upbringing can have on their life, for better or worse.

This book is gripping in its intensity. The magical comes to life in the most believable way. The story is haunting, full of dangerous creatures and humans alike. Adelaide’s family secret is unlike anything I could have predicted. Creepy hauntings and violent decisions throw the tumultuous plot into a surprisingly twisted chain of events. The story is sorrowful, gory, and completely immersive, with all of the characters enacting their own furtive agendas.

Reading this book is an experience, one I enjoyed immensely. This story is a brilliantly-crafted narrative. Genre-bending novels can be a feat, and this one pulls it off perfectly. I highly recommend this book! The synopsis doesn’t even do it justice. It deserves all five stars and way more hype. This author is definitely now on my favorites list, and I’m looking forward to checking out his other books.

Victor LaValle continues to amaze with his novels. I read The Changeling and the Ballad of Black Tom. Lone Women is just as good as the other two award winning titles. If creepy were a genre, Lone Women would be in it. It has elements of thriller, mystery, horror, slasher, and western. The first chapter starts with a bang and each chapter builds tension and suspense until the conclusion.

Parts of Lone Women reminded me of Percival Everett's The Trees, Toni Morrison's Beloved, and Elmore Leonard's western short stories. As in The Trees, Lone Women explores the diversity which existed in the west, in this case Montana, after slavery but before Jim Crow when blacks, indigenous people, and the Chinese were homesteaders. Like Toni Morrison's Beloved, the story is a suspenseful mystery of what really happened to a family. There are family secrets which haunt, literally ghost, the present. Lastly, Lone Women is a western in the tradition of Elmore Leonard, exploring vigilante justice, lawlessness, and the nutty character of people who move to in isolated, habitable lands.

Every element of the novel is masterful. The main characters draw your sympathy. You pray for the five main characters' survival. LaValle makes you feel the hostility of the Montana landscape -- alkaline wells, frozen soil, brutal winds, and blinding night. The landscape is a character and a character builder. The denizens are eroded, hard, cold, and dark. The language is deceptively simple. Again, like Elmore Leonard, the scaled down language makes the philosophical issues interesting but not tedious. There's no preaching and pedantry. Lastly, the book contains unexpected moments of hilarity. Similar to Paul Beatty or Sloane Crosley, LaValle sneaks in unexpected jokes.

No spoilers, but the ending is hopeful. I cried with joy. Part of what I loved so much about The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones was the hopeful ending in which the young female character defeated generational trauma in the form of a demon elk. Lone Women offers a similar sort of triumphant ending.

I am so onboard with Victor LaValle.

So good! Western horror is that a genre? I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into but this writer has a way with words. The characters, the setting, everything just embraces you and comes alive on the page. Several twists I wasn't expecting which made it even better. I fear there is very little I can say without giving anything away but this is not your average homestead finding your place in Montana story.

I feel like I am in the minority with this review. I have never read Victor LaVelle before, so I just might not be used to his style, but the story felt pieced together and did not really reach me as a reader. The story had a good foundation, however, there were little pieces of other characters added to the story that just did not make sense to me. I went back and reread sections wondering if I missed a plot point that connected things, but it's just the way the author wrote it. The ending also seemed to fall flat for me. There was a momentous moment when Adelaide confronts Elizabeth, but then they just move on. I expected more 'drama' in their reunion.

This book may be for some readers, but not for me.

I was offered an eARC of this and accepted not really knowing the premise but knowing that Victor LaValle had been on my list of author's to check out for quite some time.

This was enthralling. Historical fiction with horror and thriller and fantastical elements thrown in, Lone Women tackles all sorts of heavy themes from identity (race, sex, class, etc.) to homesteading and the American Dream to so much more and it's written in such a tight yet lyrical manner.

The story starts off with a bang as we see Adelaide Henry fleeing California after the death of her parents. Then there is the slow build of tension as we learn more about the Henry family secrets. The way LaValle uses the climate of a Montana winter as the backdrop of this story about a woman trying to make her own way in the world was so masterful.

There was so much to love about this book, from the prose to the atmosphere to the themes and the the characters. While I admit the ending sort of lost me, this is a book that I have not been able to stop thinking about since I finished it and I cannot wait to read more from LaValle.

Adelaide reads about homesteading opportunities in Montana. She knows that it is time to leave it all behind in California. So she wraps up loose ends and sets out alone, at 31, to start a new life with only a bit of money and a heavy trunk to her name.

After experiencing more than her fair share of challenges just getting to her homestead, Adelaide finds that it is an empty run-down property in a desolate part of Montana, with no potable water, far from town.

Time to settle in for yet another 1900 Western story about how a tough woman overcomes all odds, finds a man, builds a family, and lives happily ever after? Not so fast; that wouldn’t be a Victor LaValle novel. You see LaVelle has taken his inimitable talents out West for “Lone Women” and Adelaide and the rest of us are in for a wild ride.

Adelaide’s mother taught her to always remember that “A Woman is a Mule”. We root for her to overcome hardships including being one of the very few non-White settlers, much less women, in a fully hostile place where the chances of surviving, much less thriving, are extremely low. It’s not just the constantly life-threatening elements that need to be overcome. It seems that Adelaide is not the only one that came to Montana with secrets to hide. Everyone has something that they best conceal. Combining them can only lead to a volatile outcome.

As always, LaVelle is amazing, conjuring a cast of characters that take your breath away. “Lone Women” segments are short, propelling the narrative, while never leaving the reader with the vaguest idea about what may come next. There is a whole lot to learn about what was really going on in the Wild West, content that you were unlikely to learn during your Social Studies class.

Thanks to One World and NetGalley for the eARC.

This was my first encounter with Victor LaValle's writing, but "Lone Women" was a stunning introduction.

A unique blend of historical fiction with thriller/horror elements, the novel follows the journey of 31 year old Adelaide Henry after she leaves her home and her deceased parents in Redondo, California with all of her belongings and a heavy steamer trunk. Inspired by the story of another woman, she heads towards Montana to become a homesteader, or "lone woman". As a black woman in 1914 America, she has dealt with her fair share of difficulties - but her mysterious steamer trunk seems to weight the heaviest on her.

It's in Montana that we learn more about Adelaide as she slowly starts to make both friends and enemies with those around her. LaValle is able to develop a full town of residents, and I appreciated his natural introductions and characterizations of Grace and Sam, as well as Bertie Brown and Fiona Wong. There are unforced nods to topics of sexuality, race, and genderism that contribute to the story as a whole, and flesh out each of these individual and their backstories. There are also flashbacks to Adelaide's childhood as we learn more about the demons that haunt her, and what she must do to atone for her own mistakes.

LaValle's writing is gripping and atmospheric, and his pacing throughout the novel is superbly done. This would be a fantastic read around Halloween or - quit frankly - any time of year.

This is historical fiction at its horrific best!

In the 1900s while still settling the United States, there was a practice of “homesteading” where if you could live on a parcel and make it successful and productive, after 3 years that would become your own.

Adelaide Henry is running from her childhood home with nothing but a steamer trunk, escaping the fire she’s set and the horrors within, and headed to stake her claim on a parcel in Montana. Though locked with a heavy padlock, Adelaide is reluctant to let the trunk out of her sight. She’s headed to be a “lone woman” in a state that allows single women to try to stake a claim. But Montana is very different from California, and Adelaide is very different from everyone else settling in Montana. Adelaide has a horrific secret. One that causes death to those around her. Sometimes the devil you know refuses to let you go, and family history and secrets remain cumbersome chains around your neck.

Victor Lavalle has created a tense, atmospheric, historic romp through the early 1900s settlement adventure, but twisting his tale with horror filled images and creating terror filled moments with devils you will never see coming.

This is a fast paced, un-put-down-able adventure that will throw you through curves and spine tingling moments sure to please readers of multiple genres.

This was my first LaValle novel, and definitely will not be my last. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction, fantasy, thrillers, horror and anyone who just loves a well written story! Not one to miss when released in March of 2023.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishingGroup, and of course #VictorLaValle, for extending this amazing ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

My full review will be posted on all my social media accounts, blog sites and retail stores upon release day.

What an interesting story! I wasn't expecting a feminist old-western, but I definitely got one in the very best way. The characters were enjoyable and the storyline was easy to follow. I easily became team Elizabeth once the story progressed.

I really enjoyed this one! I read Victor LaValle's "Changeling" awhile ago and liked it, but his new book "Lone Women" expands and improves upon his signature "adult fairytale plus horror" genre. There's a lot going on in this book-- homesteading, family relations, identity, race, sex, and class-- but with some horror elements. He makes it all work in this fast-moving, tightly written novel. I also quite enjoy his writing style; it's fairly economical but still descriptive, which often really plays up the more fantasy/horror aspects of the novel.

The only real criticism I have is that one (fairly minor) plotline went absolutely nowhere. I don't want to give too much away, as this novels works best if you go in with little knowledge, but it has to do with two people who seem to understand (and have respect for) the secret at the center of the novel. I think it could've been a good plot tool to understand a bit more about the secret. I had a lot of trouble envisioning what it was until the very end, when it suddenly began very clear. Then I wished I understood sooner!

But other than that, I highly recommend this book! It's a great read, particularly for spooky season, and I look forward to his next work.

This was a captivating historical novel that brought insight into the role of women, especially black women in the settlement of the west, Montana especially. It also gives a picture of the ways that birth defects and mental illness were handled. Verging on a horror story, I think it portrays the reality of the times with a slightly macabre tone. The book captured my attention, made me “feel” the tension, and was a great read. And I must admit that the quote, “A Woman is a Mule” will haunt me for a while. The reader will learn a lot, feel a lot, and understand those times much better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the Advanced Review Copy.