Adelaide has a terrible secret, a curse. She leaves her farm and family behind in California and moves to Big Sandy, Montana with almost no belongings to become a homesteader. Adelaide quickly finds that the hardships of Montana were vastly underrepresented in the railroad newspaper article she read, and she is surprised to find she needs the help of others for survival. Luckily, Adelaide meets Grace, Bertie, and Fiona, other lone women who have their own struggles.

I had no idea what to expect from this novel, but I was immediately sucked into Adelaide’s journey and surprised by where it went. Lone Women is a slow burn of a novel, ending in an intense conclusion with a tangible build up that makes it difficult to put down, even as really terrible things happen to the settlers of Big Sandy. Like all good monster novels, LaValle leads the reader through a blood-soaked story that leaves you pondering who the real monster is, and he provides many options to choose from.

Having just finished a historical book and it being rather lackluster, I was apprehensive to jump into another one. But the premise had me too curious to not give it a try, and let me tell you it doesn't disappoint.

We start out thick in the mystery of Adelaide's life. The chapters keep you in the dark of her secrets but keep pulling you forward with the introduction of live in no where Montana. As she settles into the community and makes friends I almost forgot about the trunk she drug from California along with her so when it finally opens the contents it blind sided me.

As Adelaide's secret unravels, so do many secrets around her. The book moves from just her 3rd person POV to chapters featuring the 3rd person POV of other main characters in the tale. While it some of the switches were abrupt, they all added secrets to the plot.

By the end I could not predict where the story was going, but was extremely happy with the outcome. This story deals with mob mentality, being scared of our own 'worst fears' based on assumptions, and the strength to carry on even when the cards are stacked against us.

The book breathes 1914 Montana. It's well researched and the world building is beautifully done.

You'll enjoy this story if you love historical reads, that dabble in supernatural themes, with a helping of strong female characters, and the tyrants around them.

Features: LBGTQIA+ characters
Triggers: Child death, infant death, descriptive murders.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

What a rare and unique find this is. I can't say I've ever read another book quite like it.

The opening chapter is masterful and instantly pulls you in. You likely won't be quite sure what's going on, but I guarantee it will make you want to keep reading.

Then, the book goes off in unexpected directions.

Without spoiling anything, I guess I would say that I would have found this book fascinating if it had only been about a Black woman homesteading alone in Montana in 1915. (In fact, I wished the book had leaned just a wee bit harder into that part of the story. Racism is barely touched upon once she arrives in Montana, and we spend little time with the basics of cooking, farming, etc.)

Between Adelaide's hardships staying alive and making friends, there is also a memorable villain(s) who stands in her way. So, this lone woman, bands with other lone women to find her community and build a home.

This spine of the story is solid, admirable, and well executed. If that was all there was, I would have probably still been a happy reader

But, of course, that ISN'T all there was.

This particular woman is hiding a whopper of a secret that turns up the heat on the entire story. Not everyone will dig that secret (personally, I thought it was great.) Those people might enjoy this tale being told in such a way that is strictly historical fiction and nothing more. And, like I said, I get that instinct and on some level share it, but I do love some bonkers secrets and this one is a humdinger.

Overall, this was a refreshing, bold, genre-defying book that breaks the mold. It's not a perfect book, but it sure was a cool read. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thank you so much to #Netgalley, the publisher and especially the author for this ARC!

This is my first book by this author and it won’t be my last! This book sucked me in from chapter 1 and I couldn’t stop. I literally inhaled this book, the short chapters made reading a breeze. This was so fantastic I plan on picking up a copy for my collection when it’s released. At 240 pages, this book packs more story into it than pretty much every 350+ page book I’ve ever read. There is no filler at all, nothing to skim over and the historical setting was *chefs kiss*. This book got me out of my reading slump; highly highly recommend! Now to go read all of the authors previous works ☺️

4.25 stars

This was my first taste of LaValle’s work and certainly not my last. I went in blind and I’m glad for it. It had me pretty much hooked from page one, and I loved the unexpected (to me anyway) genre bending elements. The story was so well crafted that I just kept reading and lost track of time, and all of a sudden the book was over and I was left breathless. I highly recommend this book.

Get this one on your TBR lists and place your pre-orders now! It's that good.
Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

This one blew me away. I enjoyed The Ballad of Black Tom and some of LaValle's short fiction previously, but this was a true page turner for me. I sat down to read and then realized suddenly it was 1am. This book even made me run to research Montana and homesteading, and I'm so grateful I had the chance to read it via Netgalley.

Abigail Henry hitches a ride to California of her burning home, family dead, with just a travel back and a steamer trunk that holds... something. Visceral, immersive descriptions of the vast unsettled wilds of Montana and vivid characters drew me in, and didn't let me go. The plot moves at a solid clip and never slows, the creeping dread doesn't either.

Highly recommended.

A really strong concept and execution. The blend of genres and horror elements were so fun to read about. The world and characters were exciting. From the first page of was hooked and the slow born was forth it!

*this review goes live on my website 10/26/2022*

Lone Women was my first Lavalle read. But it definitely isn’t my last. I have actually had The Ballad of Black Tom kicking around my e-reader since *checks notes* June of 2020. Gods, what is wrong with me. Why do I buy so many more books than I can possibly keep up with?!

I was absolutely hooked from the opening paragraph. If this is the caliber of writing Lavalle normally delivers, then I have been seriously missing out. The opening sequence had my curiosity piqued so hard I thought I was gonna die if I didn’t soon discover the why. But he keeps that delicious little chestnut very close to the vest for the exact right amount of time. A single sentence further and I would have exploded all over everything.

Lone Women is one hell of a folk tale. It has a strong feminist backbone, and excellent lessons on loyalty, forgiveness and fortitude. This story is so expertly written that at points I actually forgot that I wasn’t a part of the story. I was fully immersed.

I really enjoyed this novel for the first half. Once the contents of the trunk was revealed I lost interest. It was a very creative and original concept but veered way away from my normal genre preference.

The cover and description of this novel drew me in right away. I was thrilled to start this novel! The first half was absolutely amazing. In the second half, the POVs would change frequently and the perspectives were from characters I didn't much care to read about. If the POV had stayed consistent from start to finish, I would have easily rated this 5 stars. I loved the creepy element and the setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own!

This is a fascinating book, and, as much much of LaValle's work, it blends genres and themes/ideas in a truly staggering way. His writing is, as ever, truly immersive and beautiful to watch unfold on the page.

Spooky Western spooky Western spooky Western!!! I love a spooky Western, and this one was very good, sort of a mashup of Midnight Mass and a frontier survival story. I think the writing style isn’t quite for me, and some of the characters felt a little underdeveloped or two-dimensional, but I’m fully obsessed with the “demon” lore of this book, and Elizabeth is fantastic. I will be thinking about her for a long time. LONE WOMEN made me curious to pick up more books by this author, and I suspect longtime Victor LaValle fans will be stoked about this one.

What kind of crazy is Victor LaValle? If you’ve read any of his work, you understand I mean this in the most respectful and loving way possible. The man’s mind is full of treasures that contain horror, terror and unexpected humor. This is a family tale, or more precisely a sister yarn. How much do we owe our sibling? How commitment can one be to see a sibling live the life that is deserved no matter the circumstances of birth? Adelaide is weighed down by her sister, in fact she shouldered this weight all her life. Adelaide’s parents selfishly burdened her with caring and looking after, Elizabeth.

Was that a cruel move by Adelaide and Elizabeth’s parents? Well as we travel through the bizarre mind of Victor LaValle, and the story begins to unfold, we are faced with the question of “what would I do?” And I’m telling you, this contemplation is the engine behind this great, yes great novel! And when we come face to face with a family that dealt with similar circumstances, but had a vastly different approach that contemplation in our head gets louder and maybe you have changed your original answer to the seminal question.

In any event, this is a wild and scary tale, told with great aplomb and you will not put this book down until the very end! Victor LaValle has done it again, the best fiction I’ve read this year and it’s not even close!

Special thanks to Oneworld and Netgalley for an advanced digital copy! Book drops March 21, 2023

Western Horror full of twists and turns? Obviously this was amazing.

I LOVED The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom so I was pretty excited for an opportunity to read this early. It ended being my favorite LaValle so far!

Honestly this book is best entered blind so I'm not going to describe the plot much. I didn't even read a synopsis and I was thrilled with how much I was stunned by events.

We open with a scene of Adelaide Henry setting her home on fire with her dead parents inside and heading out to a claim in Montana with a mysterious and unnaturally heavy trunk. It's a slow burn to begin with but with just enough tantalizing horror hints and twists to keep you glued until things really ramp up.

Twisty and creepy, great atmosphere and well-written characters and setting. Highly recommend if you're already a LaValle fan or looking for a place to start.

I'm continuously shocked when I get an email offering me an ARC I haven't requested 😅 Thanks, Netgalley

I'm so torn about this book because on one hand I thought Lone Women was SO GOOD, but on the other hand it was formatted SO POORLY. I'm not talking about the actual text formatting or sentence structure or anything like that -- no, the flow of the chapters themselves would really benefit from a complete restructure. For example, Adelaide is the only character (with a single exception) that we read from the point of view of in the entire first part of the book, but parts two and three are a mix of several characters, some of which had never been on the page before that part of the novel. If those chapters had been mixed in beforehand, the shift would have been so much smoother. Similarly, sometimes the narration would jump into omniscient view and talk about the history of the town that the particular POV character wouldn't know, or the future of the characters, but that wouldn't hold true when the scope was narrowed back down to the characters themselves.

That aside, Lone Women was a fascinatingly unique little novel about the various horrors on the Montana plains in the early 1900s. Adelaide Henry comes out to Montana with a single suitcase and the weight of the world on her shoulders, which is apparent in the distrustful way she treats nearly everyone. LaValle really does a wonderful job portraying Adelaide's state of mind throughout the novel, and it's almost a shame to have to read chapters in the POV of characters like Mrs. Reed or Joab Mudge when Adelaide is so compelling. However, I do love when authors write from the POV of the "monster", and LaValle sprinkled a little of that in, so I'll forgive him.

I don't want to say too much about the novel because I think it genuinely is the kind of book that works better when you get to experience the twists on your own. If I had to make any criticism (not including the formatting issues as mentioned above), it would be that I would have loved to see a few more horror elements mixed in, and a little more explanation on the Tepoztlán aspect introduced later in the novel, but otherwise I was very pleasantly surprised by this!

3.5 out of 5 stars, but rounding up to 4, cause why not?

I defy you to find a more gripping opening chapter this year. Read the first page and you might not be able to put it down for quite some time.

I first read Victor LaValle when he released Big Machine in 2009. I went into it not knowing anything about the book, and I kept waiting for there to be a logical explanation for all the supernatural happenings. When none came, I was disappointed. Preconceived notions ruined my experience.

This time, I knew what I was getting into, and I was along for the ride. LaValle layers the secrets, uncovering little by little as all is revealed in the end. I have a feeling this one will top quite a few lists when it's released next spring.

I was gripped right from the start, I wanted to know what was happening, more about Adelaide, more about her doings and surroundings. I loved every minute of reading this book, it was my third book by LaValle and I think my favorite so far.

Wow - what an incredible story! This was my first foray into the long fiction of Victor LaValle (I know, I know) and I'm blown away.

From the very first page, I was hooked. The setting, the characters, and especially the urgency of the plot in the first chapters, it was all incredible. The chapters are short, quick bursts of fast-paced action, and I simply couldn't put this book down. Every new character that was introduced was someone I could root for, or hate, or in some cases, both.

LaValle deftly weaves together various narratives that immerse his readers in this world. I felt like I was living on the plains of Montana with Adelaide and Bertie and Fiona. Their story of strength in the face overwhelming odds was simply perfect.

Highly recommend this book to all, horror fans and not.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle was a very solid read.
This was my first Victor LaValle book, and honestly I'm in love with his writing.
I thought the writing was very good, everything just worked so well. The flow was also great.
The story was captivating and very interesting. I was immediately hooked.
The history and characterization was just stunning.
I loved everything about this book.
He's a master, and this was a delight to read.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Random House & One World,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!