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.

Adelaide Henry has spent her full 31 years living with her parents on their farm in California. But after the murder of her parents, Adelaide sets fire to the only home she’s ever known and makes her way to Montana to start a new life. She has few possessions, most notably the large steamer trunk filled with something very heavy and very secret. Adelaide is one of only two Black women in her new rural Montana community, and though she makes some friends, she still feels like an outsider. Her deep, dark secret inhibits her, and the harsh weather as winter approaches makes life a daily struggle. Eventually, though, Adelaide’s secret will have to come out – no matter how it affects her community.

Lone Women starts with a bang: Adelaide’s parents are dead, and before people find their bodies, she must leave her family home in flames and flee California for a new refuge: Montana. Already, the book feels like a thriller and there’s an air of mystery about it: Did Adelaide murder her parents? Why? What’s in her abnormally heavy steamer trunk that’s she’s traveling with? Adelaide is a woman with secrets, and on her way to Montana, she meets others who seem to have secrets of their own: the Mudge family, consisting of a mother and her four blind teenage sons. When they disappear, Adelaide worries it’s her fault – again adding to the mystery.

Adelaide feels isolated for much of the book. Not only were her family considered “queer folk” where she grew up, she’s also now alone in a very rural area of Montana. Her closest neighbor is many miles away, and the nearest town is even farther out and quite small itself. Beyond the physical isolation, Adelaide is also guarding some secrets, making it hard for her to let anyone in. Eventually she does, and this leads to a theme that runs throughout the novel of found family and the importance of connection. Adelaide befriends Grace Price and her son Sam, as well as Bertie Brown (the only other Black woman around) and her partner Fiona Wong (herself Chinese-American). They make a solid friend group, though those bonds will be tested from time to time.

Even with that heartwarming aspect to Lone Women, the horror and thriller sides guide the tone. There are four sources of terror at play: the physical distance expanding around them; the harsh climate of a Montana moving into winter; the people stealing from, harming, and even killing Adelaide’s neighbors; and that deep, dark secret locked in Adelaide’s steamer trunk. Later, there’s another kind of evil our characters must battle. Some of the horror comes in the form of the “real,” while others are more supernatural in nature. In makes for a complex novel; Adelaide is battling terror on all fronts.

The story builds up slowly, gradually weaving in the unsettling and the monstrous. Themes of racism, identity, and loss of family also come into play, and even a ghost town – with literal ghosts – makes an appearance. Even with those darker themes, Lone Women is a quick-paced and easy read. Humor and the occasional anachronistic description by the narrator keeps it somewhat light and modern, despite its setting in 1915.

By the end, Lone Women highlights a powerful message of family and community. It’s equal parts horror and a tale of women finding a place in the world, no matter who tries to put up barriers around them.

Lone Women is an empowering novel about breaking free of the boundaries around you and building a sisterhood despite the horrors life throws your way. It’s a different kind of horror story than I’d expected, but one that I fully enjoyed. This was only my first time reading Victor LaValle, and I look forward to exploring his other novels and novellas.

* Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House and One World Books and to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

* Note: a slightly longer version of this review will be published on my blog on March 20, 2023; I will add a link to it then.

I've never read a Western before, let alone a historical fiction horror Western. I'm not quite sure how to rate this one. It pulled me right in, and I surprised myself by digging the western setting. Although I guess I enjoyed the horror too. I was really loving this book but as it went on I was loving it less. I kinda wished it had stayed a Western. I think maybe I was just too sleepy while reading and I lost some plot points. I blame myself! So bc it was a mind bending take and totally unlike anything I've ever read before, I'm going with 5 glorious stars.

Which Victor LaValle book did you read first? Mine was The Changeling. Brutal, devastating, ambitious, and incredibly weird. It made me reassess what a literary horror novel could be. I can’t wait to see the forthcoming TV adaptation.

So of course, as soon as I had the opportunity to read LaValle’s latest book, Lone Women, I dived right in. I was immediately welcomed into the strange world of Adelaide Henry, as she is fleeing her childhood home, literally burning it to the ground. Along with a suspiciously heavy trunk, she moves to Montana, to start a new life, and cultivate a plot of land. But Adelaide is laden with secrets she is desperate to keep dormant, and when she unintentionally evokes the wrath of a few people, things quickly get out of hand.

For some bizarre reason, I’m frequently hesitant to read historical fiction; Lone Women being set in early twentieth-century America. But a good writer knows that great characters transcend the constraints of time, and Victor has certainly achieved this with Adelaide et al. As a single black woman, Adelaide faces many of the same challenges still around over 100 years later. She is tenacious, yet deeply troubled, and I love her. Her initial escape triggers such an exciting trail of events; I raced through this book in about three days.

I don’t want to give too much away, because the way this book unfolded is why I loved it so much. But I will say Lone Women is a perfect blend of historical and horror fiction, with incredibly well-crafted characters, and an incredibly strong sense of place and time. It is such an exciting time to be a LaValle fan, you guys are going to love this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victor LaValle for the advanced copy.

This is my first Victor LaValle book.

The cover caught my eye with its muted colors, vast open plains featuring a single woman as the central focus. With a title of Lone Women, yet there was only one woman, I was curious. After reading the book description I was even more eager to read the story.

The opening scene of a grown daughter being casually carted off on a wagon from her family home as if going on holiday while the house slowly goes up in flames as her parents lay dead in their bed, left me wanting to know more. Mentions of the weight and size and how protective Adelaide was of her steamer trunk made me more curious about what could possibly be inside. Setbacks aside, Adelaide made it to her claim in Montana where she meets other women that like herself are alone. When first learning what is in the steamer trunk, I was a bit taken back because I didn’t see how it fit into the setting but I kept going. This thing, the way it was described brought a whole different twist to the book.
Towards the end I had to stop reading for the night because I felt like two incredibly different books hand been merged. The next morning I reread that chapter and pushed on but even after finishing the book, I still don’t feel that it matches. On my kindle it was at 88% through the book when I felt this happened.
Who gave Adelaide a drink in the small hut in the mountains? What did her vision with the trees and California home have to do with the story? What is the other language that was spoken to Elizabeth? The book did a great job with loose ends of the characters but things that happened in the mountain leave questions.

Overall I thought it was an odd combination of western meets horror/sci fi but at the same time it left me thinking about the story. I will look for more books by Victor LaValle because I enjoyed the twist of the unexpected.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this novel. Victor LaValle definitely is a new author for me.

It's hard for me to describe other than the book is not what I expected. Very good book.

I’ve never heard of Victor LaValle before now, and I went into this book completely blind. I hadn’t the foggiest clue what to expect and I was deeply, pleasantly surprised.

The main character is an absolute flawed badass. I love her and would love to read more stories about her. She and other characters in this book overcome great hurdles, due to old western-times, rough weather, and other spoilery things I’ll leave out. The cast of characters are all interesting, unique and some are often frustrating.

This book was really well-written. I think my only complaint was that it was a little slow to start but that's very minor. I am really good at guessing what to expect next, but this book caught me off guard a few times.

The ending was completely unexpected and perfect, highly recommend this one.

“Lone Women” is a horror book by Victor LaValle. I found the idea of a Black female in the early 20th century out in Montana to be very attractive. While I tend to like some horror, this book at times felt like a combination of telling a historical fiction book with supernatural elements tossed in, but also some Wild West bits … and all together it didn’t always work. I would’ve liked to have read a bit more about how the main character was going to survive on the land, opposed to just bits of her life in Montana on the land. I think that if horror is your jam, this is definitely one to check-out as you may find this author (and this book) to be up your alley.

I'm not quite sure where to begin with The Lone Women by Victor LaValle. I was drawn to the book for its place and time—the American West, early 20th-century land claims in Montana. I liked that the book has an angle that you don't usually see in that period, namely a solo, female Black protagonist. Though I enjoyed reading Victor's prose and the twists and turns in the narrative, the story lost me toward the end when it unhinged itself from reality. Perhaps I don't fully understand the horror genre—which would be my bad, not Victor's!—but I would have liked to see this story stay a little closer to Earth.

This book is one of the most unique books I have read in a long time.
From the first opening scene of her starting a fire to destroy the house and her parents bodies, to the final scene at the Opera HOuse, I was hooked.
I could NOT put this book down. I wanted to know, no I NEEDED to know what was in that heavy crate.
I loved the different ways in which the title could apply to all of the LONE WOMEN on the Montana farmsteads.

This is one book that if I continue raving about it, I will give out spoilers.

Read this wonderfully unique book with a distinct voice.

Adelaide Henry is making a new life for herself in rural Montana, working towards claiming her own property as part of the government homesteading program of the late 1800s. She wants to make a new life for herself after the devastating loss of her parents, but she’s required to lug the family’s burden with her to Montana. Can she make a new life for herself, finally become independent and rid herself of this burden once and for all?

What a book! This was my first Victor LaValle book, and I will definitely be checking more of his work out in the future! I’m not much for horror at this moment, but this was just creepy and captivating enough that some gore here and there really didn’t bother me at all. LaValle incorporates the perfect amount of diversity to the characters and it really comes to life through them.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the free ARC to review!

Victor LaValle’s The Changeling remains a favorite of mine, a book that left me reeling years after reaching the end. I brought this excitement into his new book, Lone Women, but was left waiting for something that never came. Gone was his tight, thoughtful prose, compelling characters, and engaging story. LaValle remains an emerging literary voice, but I fear that Lone Women does nothing to help his meteoric rise.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Adelaide is traveling to Montana after losing her parents in California. She has luggage she carries with her that hides a secret that she has been hiding. Several people in her life have died because of this. I liked this book.

This book is a strange combo of historical fiction + horror that works. When I first started to read it, I was worried I had made a mistake since historical fiction isn't usually my genre of choice. I enjoyed the historical fiction, even before the horror aspect came into play. Mercifully, there wasn't an all consuming romance story - part of why I dislike historical fiction is because the ones I select are usually a romance set in the past.

Our main character is Adelaide Henry who goes to homestead in Montana. She is utterly unprepared, has some luck, makes some friends, and is working her butt off, all while hiding a dark secret (dun dun dunnnn). Adelaide felt like a real person and I was rooting for her. Her character felt very well developed. The author did a great job of developing the supporting characters who felt unique and differentiated.

We learn about what Adelaide is hiding in pieces and it kept me reading. The reveal was surprising and the more I think about it, the more unsettling it becomes. I'm still a little confused about what the thing actually was, which I both like and don't like. However, since it's horror, I'm giving it a pass for not 100% explaining it. (Trying not to give anything away.)

I appreciate how the author includes non-white, non-heterosexual characters. Adelaide is a person of color. There's a lesbian couple, neither of whom are white. We have some discrimination from the main (white) townsfolk against them. It was all handled and was nice to read more than straight, white characters.

I would have liked a little more time spent about how Adelaide works her claim. We get bits and pieces, but the author was focusing on other parts of her world. She was trying to figure out if she should hire a person to help her plant - I want to know what she decided!

This was my first book by Victor LaValle and I'm excited to read more from him.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.