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Title details for Lone Women by Victor LaValle - Available

Lone Women

A Novel

by Victor LaValle
Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
“Propulsive . . . LaValle combines chills with deep insights into our country’s divides.”—Los Angeles Times
ONE OF BOOKPAGE'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE AND LOCUS AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Esquire, Vulture, Paste, Tordotcom, Book Riot, Polygon, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 28, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593611067
      • File size: 264618 KB
      • Duration: 09:11:17

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 2, 2023
      World Fantasy Award winner LaValle (The Changeling) returns with a haunting historical horror novel. In 1915, Adelaide Henry flees her California hometown following the death of her parents, for which she feels responsible. Inspired by a testimonial from a single woman who took advantage of a loophole in a homesteading opportunity offered by the federal government, Adelaide makes the trek to Montana with a mysterious steamer trunk in tow. The trunk contains her deepest, darkest secrets, and as her journey unfolds, readers will get a sense of creeping wrongness about the object, which, Adelaide is adamant, must remain locked at all times. When she arrives in Montanna, Adelaide is unprepared for the harsh winter and the unfamiliar ways of her neighbors: “A woman on her own, a Black woman out here in Montana, far from the Black community she’d known in Lucerne Valley, must remain vigilant for her own sense of safety. In truth, she’d never been around so many white people.” As she adjusts to her new life, she finds that escaping her past is not as easy as she hoped, and that her secrets, once out, could spell death for everyone around her. A counter to the typical homesteading narrative, this moody and masterful western fires on all cylinders. Readers are sure to be impressed. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins/Loomis Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Joniece Abbott-Pratt brings alive the secrets of a small town's women in this new novel of the supernatural and the Old West. As Adelaide Henry runs from the burning bodies of her dead parents, she brings with her a padlocked trunk filled with unknown horrors. Traveling from the farms of California to a struggling town in Montana, Adelaide soon learns that if she wants to remain alive, she and the women of the town must help each other. Abbot-Pratt's stern tone and attentive character work give listeners the full impact of women who are struggling to stay alive in an unforgiving landscape. Her performance of this audiobook captures the feel of an authentic Western with a horror twist. V.B. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 10, 2024

      LaValle (The Changeling) offers a magical take on the classic Western. The Montana plains are vast--rife with opportunities for people to make their fortune or disappear entirely. Adelaide Henry has come from California to do both, but her quest is complicated by her always-locked steamer trunk, which tends to make people disappear when it's opened. LaValle includes all the trappings of the Western genre--guns, nooses, and savage acts of cruelty--but he also paints from a palette of stunningly descriptive words. Far from being one-dimensional archetypes, LaValle's richly drawn characters have their own backstories, motivations, and, most important, locked-up skeletons. Joniece Abbott-Pratt's voicework gives life to all these diverse characters and their emotions, from a young boy's vengeance-driven anger to a matriarch's civilly delivered contempt. The story's fantastical elements highlight the strangeness of the landscape and the physical and emotional toll exacted by long-held secrets. VERDICT LaValle's gorgeous prose and dynamic characters, combined with the horrific supernatural, make for a compelling listen. Share with fans of Alma Katsu, Erin E. Adams, and Isabel Ca�as.--James Gardner

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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