In the opening line, author Victor LaValle writes that “there are two kinds of people in this world: those who live with shame, and those who die from it.” Ironically, the heroine of his newest novel, “Lone Women,” attempts to escape her shame.
Adelaide Henry flees her family’s California farm in 1915
after setting fire to the house with her parents’ corpses inside. She takes
with her an impossibly heavy steamer trunk that she does not like to let out of
her sight.
She heads to Montana, one of the few states that allow lone
women to homestead. What she finds there is an unforgiving climate, seemingly
friendly neighbors—until Adelaide angers them—and only one other Black person
for hundreds of miles.
Adelaide is almost completely unprepared to survive the winter
and has to rely on some of those neighbors. In addition, a widow and her four
sons make an unwelcome visit to her cabin, where Adelaide has just discovered
her steamer trunk open and empty. That’s when people start to die.
LaValle’s genre-busting novel is equal parts western,
historical, mystery, and horror. There is plenty of action and blood, but there
is plenty to think about also. Adelaide contends with loneliness, isolation,
allowing herself to trust others, and of course, “her shame.”
Despite some bothersome plot holes and a decidedly weird
climax, “Lone Women” will entertain readers with a well-told story, complex and
interesting characters, and page-turning suspense.
