This was just a fantastic book. If you are a fan of atmospheric writing, horror, or historical fiction, then you should 100% check this book out. Victor LaValle is a master at writing horror that makes your skin crawl and gives you nightmares. You will not stop thinking about this book for a long time after.

am not a horror reader—not even a little bit—so this book was a big risk for me, and I’m glad I took the plunge. Lavalle mixes Southern Gothic, classic Western, and magical suspense to great effect while exploring the impacts of Western expansion and women’s history. The book opens as Adelaide Henry flees her burning California home where her dead parents remain inside, for the cold, harsh land of Montana. She carries with her a heavy, locked steamer trunk that emits an occasional rumble, but what’s in the trunk may prove to be even tamer than the demons she finds in her new home town.

In my opinion, this book was marketed wrong. I went in thinking this was historical horror, but the horror element was lacking. It was more historical fiction with creepy/paranormal elements. Part 1 had me intrigued because I wanted to know what was going on. By Part 2, I was bored. Part 3 was just following the characters & I was still disinterested until the last few chapters & that is what saved this book for me.
Received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

Headed out West with a trunk full of secrets? YES PLEASE!

The beginning of the American West is my favorite time period to travel to in fictional reading. The secret hiding in the trunk is what sealed the deal for me to dive in.

I can’t believe how thankful I am to have taken the jump! Lone Women was beyond worth it!

It was suspenseful, engaging, detailed, and an emotional read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to hear what my friends think too!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review

ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Random House, One World via NetGalley.

In Lone Women, Victor Lavalle tackles themes adjacent to those of his previous work The Changeling: familial and racial horror, but this time with a historical western twist and a female lead. This book has much of what I enjoyed in The Changeling, but is definitely doing its own thing story-wise, and is more cohesive in its plot/worldbuilding.

Lavalle is the master of writing expertly-paced 1- to 2-page chapters that keep you reading. You think, “I’ll just read one more before I set the book down!” but you end up reading like 10 more chapters before you actually put it down.

A lone black woman moving to the Montana frontier to homestead is kind of the perfect horror setup in itself, but Lavalle heightens the stakes with a mysterious and sinister backstory for protagonist Adelaide Henry: a supernatural family secret and burden that she brings with her as she flees from the wreckage of her family’s farm in California’s Lucerne Valley.

There are so many great little visceral moments of horror or creeping unease that will stay with me from this book. I wouldn’t say I found it outright scary but the atmosphere was consistently very palpable and well done. I also found the characters and relationships compelling, and appreciated the way that other characters’ perspectives shed different light on the meaning of Adelaide’s supernatural burden.

I am loving this western style horror books that are coming out recently. KEEP THEM COMING. My first Victor LaValle book and definitely not my last!!!

This was a unique book, which I appreciated. The pacing was difficult at times, and it just wasn't holding my interest evenly throughout the book. It started off strong and I did like the end.

Lone Women was a truly unique experience! It was a wild ride with great characters and a spectacular setting! I absolutely loved it.

3.5 stars, rounding down to 3, not because of any negative experiences, but because while quite good at times, the book isn't something that would make a "Best Of" list for me.

By and large, a solid, interesting, engaging book. I cared very much about the main character, and was grateful to see that representation. The author evoked the time and place very well, and the elements of terror and dread also worked very well. Recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"There are two kinds of people in this world: those who live with shame and those who die from it. On Tuesday, Adelaide Henry would've called herself the former, but by Wednesday she wasn't as sure. If she was trying to live, then why would she be walking through her family's farmhouse carrying an Atlas jar of gasoline?"

Adelaide Henry flees from the site of her parent's murder in California, taking only a locked steamer trunk with her. Adelaide becomes one of the "lone women" of Montana--a single woman taking advantage of the government's homesteading acts. But Adelaide has brought her secret shame, her family curse, all the way to Montana with her. Soon, even the lock on the steamer trunk can't keep it contained.

This novel was truly fascinating. For the first half of it, I was trying to find out what the thing in the trunk was, and for the rest of it I was trying to figure why it was there. This was a masterpiece of a novel. The characters are vivid to the point they seem like they could leap off the page, and the twists are brilliant. Lone Women can't be confined to any single genre, drawing from historical fiction, fantasy, and horror all at once. I don't have the words to express how excellent every detail of this novel was, but I definitely recommend it if you have the slightest enjoyment in historical fiction and horror.

tw: racism, death, death of animals, transphobia, infanticide

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/One World for providing me with this digital galley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm pretty sure this was my first historical horror book I've ever read and it wasn't terrible. Some of it was very confusing to me but I'm not sure if that was my lack of attention or just the book itself. While the "creature" in this book was creepy I never found myself scared or freaked out while I was reading which is a bit of a disappointment. It did touch on a lot of great topics and I loved the LGBTQIA representation it had. The writing style kept me interested enough to continue reading and the setting was haunting and spooky. Overall a pretty good read for my first in this genre.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group, One World for the gifted copy for my review!

This book had a little more paranormal to it than I would have expected. The writing was really good, but it was not one of my favorites that I’ve read this year. It centers on woman and them being oppressed. If you enjoy liberation stories and supernatural than this one might be for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to honestly review.

I liked Lone Women a lot, especially for LaValle's look at a mostly erased piece of history and the depth he gave his characters, even the villains. The generational trauma and the determination by some of the characters to break the chain of that trauma was also spot on.

Hmmmm...where to start with this one. I am torn with my love of the writing and my dislike of the too-quick storylines.

There is so much going on within this short book...with the main story of Adelaide and the many, many side stories. I love Adelaide and the darkness and mystery that surrounds her and the life she is leaving behind. When she gets to Big Sandy, however, so much more is introduced and is left to the imagination.

This is one of those few times where I wish a book was longer. I definitely felt like this needed a lot more fleshing out, not only of the characters, but of their stories. How can we expect to like, let alone care, about characters if we know nothing about them?

Despite the lack of details, I enjoyed the overall feel to this one. It's not scary in the slightest so calling it horror is misleading. It's more of a historical fiction that has supernatural elements. It's perfect for those who want to read "scary" but don't actually want to be scared.

I'm ending at a 3.5 for this one, rounded to a 3. I wanted to love this more as it starts out fantastic, but sadly it wanes after the big reveal. I'm sure other readers will love this one so I would say if you're thinking about it, grab it and give it a go.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I wasn't prepared for Lone Women, even though every bit of the premise is very much up my alley. A strong female protagonist, a mystery steamer trunk, horror, the West! The setting, genres, and premise were not wasted at all. This book was masterfully executed and is going to stick with me for a long time.

THE 411...

This is turning out to be my year of reading dark atmospheric books in the Summer and so far I'm loving it. Victor Lavalle's feminist tale of a woman traveling to Montana with nothing but an old steam trunk builds the tension and mystery from the very first page. We meet Adelaide Henry minutes before setting her house on fire with her parents in it. Immediately I'm thinking will she prove to be an unreliable narrator orrrrr did this really just happen? and what could possibly motivate her to do this?

The year is 1915 and the United States is offering homesteading opportunities to groups otherwise denied a chance to own home/land in order to develop the frontier. Adelaide finds and advertisement with an offer and begins her travels which lead her to an area in Montana with other single women. She was looking to keep a low profile after leaving her burning childhood home but what she found was others like her looking to keep their secrets buried. Adelaide's steamer trunk is padlocked, we don't know what's in it. We just know that Adelaide is attached to whatever is in it and that if it were to get out, it would most likely spell trouble for whoever is around it. The mystery of the trunk paired with the opening pages make it hard to put this story down for too long. 

WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK ADELAIDE?

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

Victor Lavalle's books have always been on my radar so when the DRC widget showed up in my inbox, I was hyped up. That being said, I took some time to gather my thoughts for a review simply because I wanted to make sure I got the vibe right. Slow paced and atmospheric this tale will have you sitting in your thoughts and doubting whether you can trust our MC. I found myself going back and forth on Adelaide's motives and just plain theorizing. I also had a chuckle or two over her desire to be left alone but also quietly enjoying the small group of women that like it or not are all in her business...this would 100% be me! c'mon cold Montana with its natural challenges couldn't have been easy, it makes sense they'd want to look out for one another. That the group also included another black woman who helped her with her hair was truly a heartwarming moment. The importance of community specifically between women is a theme we see woven throughout. Our MC had that in her small childhood community amongst other black families, the sense of loss and disconnect is deeply conveyed. 

Recommended for:

📜 Book Lovers who crave a Historical Fiction with horror in the mix

⚒️ Slow paced reads

📜 Character driven stories

⚒️ Atmosphere over plot

📜 Lastly, bad ass women holding it down and staking their claim on the land

I love historical fiction, and historical horror, and Western horror, and horror about complicated women-- so I loved this. A novel that takes seriously the weight the past, and the burden of secrets place on families across generations. Vivid and surreal and urgent!

Lone Women by Victor LaValle was an amazing book that I didn't want to put down! It lives up to and exceeds the expectations that I had based off of the synopsis. This book had some of the best elements (historical fiction, horror, fantasy, mystery) all of which were well executed and kept me wanting to read more. The characters were well developed and the world building wall sufficiently written in a way that I was able to visualize the scenery. I would definitely recommend this book.

This was so good, I devoured it. All my favorite fiction genres--historical fiction, horror, fantasy, mystery...the best kind of genre-defying. It starts out with a WHAT? and keeps adding more WHAT?! until the end. I think I have to read this author's backlist now.

"There are two kinds of people in the world, those who live with shame and those who die from it."

"Difficulties are meant to be overcome, not indulged.

After reading fellow reviewers of this novel, I can see I'm not alone in having trouble in defining and reviewing this. I will say, it should say, All who enter hear, suspend your belief and abandon reality.

i can relate the parts that are basically a historical rendering of a young black woman, in 1915, who travels to homestead and live on her property for a year in order to own said place. There are the regular demons, who take advantage of those they can, and those who will do anything to attain and hold power. BUT then there is that very heavy trunk, a trunk that is chained and locked, a trunk that follows her everywhere.

It starts with a grisly opening and on the whole this is a very violent and bloody story and not just because it is the old west where these things seemed to happen often. It is also very well written. And then of course there is that trunk.

Narration by Joni Abbott-Pratt and she was awesome.