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.
“If the literary gods mixed together Haruki Murakami and Ralph Ellison, the result would be Victor LaValle.”—Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See
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 1915, 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.
Edition:
E-ARC by invitation from the publisher via Net Galley
My Thoughts:
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 fucking 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.
Rating:
Lone Women By Victor Lavalle Random House Publishing Group - Random House, One World ISBN: 9780525512080 Publication Date: March 21, 2023 Editions unknown at this time 240 Pages
