What I'm Reading: Lone Women by Victor LaValle

On this first day of BlackHistory Month I am posting my STAAR review of Victor LaValle's upcoming Horror-Western hybrid (and it really is 50% both) Lone Women from the current issue of Booklist. 

As usual, I have my draft review with bonus appeal and readlaike info as well as my 3 words. I do want to say before I begin, however, I am VERY tough on my favorite authors, very tough. I expect a lot. I have read just about everything LaValle has written, I have used him was an example in my book, I listed him as one of the "Head of Horror"  in that book. All of this being said, this novel still blew me away. 

Let's dive in.

STAR

Lone Women

by Victor LaValle

Mar. 2023. 304p. One World, $27 (9780525512080).

First published February 1, 2023 (Booklist).

Having lived her entire life in a California, Black farming community with her parents, Adelaide Henry, 31, is about to leave to claim a Montana homestead as that territory allows unmarried, Black women this opportunity, but before she leaves, Adelaide places her murdered parents in bed and burns the house down. Taking only an overnight bag and a heavy, securely locked trunk containing her family’s curse, one that she is now solely responsible for controlling, Adelaide will attempt to flee her past while still shackled to it, thus setting LaValle’s latest novel, a pervasively uneasy and brilliantly plotted Horror-Western hybrid in absorbing motion. Readers are led to Big Sandy to meet its marginalized and outcast citizens, feel the wide open, unforgiving landscape, and watch the captivating drama, both real and supernatural, unfold. Told with a pulp sensibility, this masterfully paced tale, with short chapters, heart-pounding suspense, a monster that is both utterly terrifying and heartbreakingly beautiful, and a storyline focused on the power of women, this tale bursts off the page, grabs readers immediately, and threatens to never let go. Great for fans of thought-provoking Horror that probes the inherent terror of marginalization, without sacrificing the visceral action as written by Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Further Appel: This novel is proof was to why LaValle is one of the sure bet Horror authors for a wide audience.  This novel literally had everything-- great characters, a strong sense of place, a compelling plot, thought provoking issues, awesome action, and a hunting feel that followed me (and revisits every time a strong gust of wind hits my house). I am going to share my notes because they capture a lot of the appeal which I wrote down asI was reading this book:

• After the set up (in review) and then is BURSTS open and becomes so much more.
• Great tense opening, going west to escape her past but still shackled to it– literally. 
• Everyone headed to Montana in 1915 to escape something– have a fresh start. All are marginalized
• Featuring strong characters development and world-building
• Racism and sexism and LGBTQ issues are woven into the story
• The story is compelling on its own, but the brilliance in is how LaValle tells it– he holds back important details, lets them out a bit at a time, they seep out. The dread and the impending terror– until it bursts open at the end of part one and THEN somehow still continues to build and get more dire– as Adelaide lets more people into her life, as her world expands like the open landscape– as her found family grows, the story blossoms into so much more.
• Awesome bad “guys” 
• Excellent example of a Western from historical and genre standards. 
• The pacing and his storytelling restraint is amazing– masterfully plotted and paced– very short chapters that lead into the next– written in the style of a 1950s pulp western but with a monster! Each section, 3 Parts each like its own book with a plot twist to keep you reading. The 3 sections– each could be their own old fashioned paperback Western as part of a series.
• About the past, about living on the margins, about family, especially found family, but mostly about embracing life. And yet, it resonates strongly with our current present over a 100 yrs later.
• Repeated from above because so key: A perfect pick for fans of thought provoking Horror, with sympathetic but flawed characters and a strong sense of place that probes the terror inherent in marginalization without sacrificing the visceral action.
• The last line is perfect– …because history is simple. The past? The past is complicated.

Three words that ascribe this book: pervasive unease, strong sense of place, masterfully paced

Further Readalikes: Anything by those three authors in the review, but specifically I think these millwork best: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, The Fervor by Alma Katsu, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia