Title: Lone Women
Author: Victor LaValle
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction
Publishing On: March 28, 2023
Publisher: One World
Source: digital (Netgalley)
Pages: 304
Synopsis:
Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear…
The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can cultivate it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing keeping her alive.
Told in Victor LaValle’s signature style, blending historical fiction, shimmering prose, and inventive horror, Lone Women is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—and a portrait of early twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen.
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
What finally enticed me to accept an early invitation to read Lone Women by Victor LaValle were all the early glowing reviews. Horror is not my usual genre, although I did read it more often many years ago, so I felt like it might be nice to revisit the genre. Especially if it seemed guaranteed to be worth my while. And I’m pleased to say it was!
Sometimes I’m nervous when I pick up a book that crosses several genres, and this one ticks off multiple ones: horror, thriller, historical fiction, western. But they work. All together, they set the perfect tone for this story about secrets and unexpected evil. I especially liked that it was historical fiction, which gave the story more gravitas. The past, itself, is unknown in many ways, and it added to the mystery, made it even more of a story to be told, and passed down.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who live with shame, and those who die from it.
Victor LaValle, Lone Women
While this book is horror, it’s not what I would call jump-scare horror. It’s more subtle, a skin-crawling, eerie horror. LaValle is a master of suspense in Lone Women.
We meet Adelaide Henry at the worst time in her life. Her parents have been violently killed, and the reason for their deaths is locked in a trunk she’s dragging along with her as she runs away from her home in California. She’s heading for Montana as one of the “lone women”, women who take advantage of the government’s offer of free land, hoping her secrets will stay hidden. But as someone who’s never seen snow, she’s not prepared for the howling winds or bone-chilling cold of this unforgiving land. As she tries to make a new life as a single black woman, she learns that things aren’t always what they seem.
We meet many characters throughout the story, and each one seems to contain a multitude of secrets and surprises, enhancing that feeling of suspense. LaValle especially succeeds at representing minority women of the time period, their strength and courage in a mostly unwelcome environment.
I didn’t want to stop reading this one, but I did find myself pausing often to wonder, what did I just read!? Cinematic and startling, Lone Women will take your breath away!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to One World and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
(All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.)
Rating:
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About the Author
A Song For A Book
When I went searching for a song for Lone Women, I found a Gothic Western Horror playlist on Spotify full of perfect songs. I instantly gravitated toward “Raise Hell” by Brandi Carlile, an artist I think is just phenomenal. And I was even more thrilled when I listened to it, because it’s just what I imagined playing as the book’s soundtrack. Enjoy!
…I found myself an omen and I tattooed on a sign
I set my mind a wandering and I walk a broken line
You have a mind to keep me quiet
And although you can try
Better men have hit their knees
And bigger men have died
I’m gonna raise, raise hell
There’s a story no one tells
You gotta raise, raise hell
Go on, now, ring that bell…
Have you read Lone Women? Did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
This sounds SO good! I really want to read this one. 😀
Yay!! I would love to hear what you think of it!
I’m glad you enjoyed this one! LaValle seems like an author who writes WAAAAY outside my comfort zone, though, so I’ll be passing on his work.
Haha, I hear ya! It was surprisingly less scary than I expected. Maybe I had just over prepared myself for it. 😂
Excellent review, Dedra. I was invited to read this one, but the horror genre scared me off. Now I wish that I had taken the publisher up on the offer.
Yeah, it wasn’t as scary as I expected it to be. I was prepared to be terrified. 😃