Book Review: Lone Women

I started Lone Women by Victor Lavalle and could not put it down. Somewhere around 2 am I put the book in my lap with a sigh of satisfaction. The novel is loosely based on several women who homesteaded in Montana in the early 1900s. We meet the main character Adelaide Henry as she leaves her parents and her California homestead burning behind her as she heads for the Montana territory. She takes with her a small bag, a locked trunk, and a dark secret. She hopes to re-establish herself on a 320 acre homestead. Although she comes from what she thinks is a small community, she soon finds out that her nearest neighbor, a woman with a child, is miles away and winter is coming. This woman, Grace, also has secrets. Adelaide is one of two black women in the territory. Belle, the other black woman, runs a very successful saloon in the closest town. The secrets each woman carries could bring them together or tear them apart. The town itself seems friendly to newcomers, however, it hides secrets of its own. Underneath the surface of the town shimmers a desire and hatred that could destroy everything. What is Adelaide hiding in the trunk? What is Grace’s secret? Will they heal together or will they be destroyed by secrets, desire, and hate? Every time a question is answered in the book, another pops up to take its place. Victor LaValle is well known for subverting tropes especially in the horror genre. This western has ghost towns and badlands, monsters and outlaws, lynch mobs and saloons, survival and sisterhood. The ending is sweetly satisfying. I recommend this book to anyone who likes westerns, historical fiction, horror, and happy endings.

If you want to pick up a copy locally, mosey on down to the best watering hole in town for book-lovers, Artefaktual in Philippi, WV.