Witch Words

Wow, it’s been a long minute since my last post. I have been doing loads of summer reading but little writing of reviews and posts. I have so many to do and catch up on. Today I am writing a review for one of my most thrilling reads of the summer.

Lone Women is one unique and captivating reading experience. Victor LaValle dishes out some violent, metaphorical thrills that left me surprisingly thrilled with everything I was left to think about after reading it.

“You kept too many secrets,” Adelaide says to her parents. “Look what it cost you.”

The story hooked me right from the start when Adelaide flees her black farming community in Southern California after her parents are mysteriously killed, creating plenty of suspense to keep me turning the pages. She travels with a locked steamer trunk carrying the burden of horrifying secrets. Adelaide travels to Montana to seek solace as one of the “lone women” who have taken up the government’s offer of free land. She soon discovers that she is not the only one with secrets, and the unforgiving land becomes a backdrop for unforgettable characters and a strong story of sisterhood.

“There are two kinds of people: those who live with shame, and those who die from it.”

“That shit wears you down,” she tells us. “The reward for sacrifice is simply more sacrifices.”

My Two Cents

LaValle blends elements of suspense, a feminist Western horror with some history-creating a profound understanding of how complicated the past is while connecting that with the human psyche and exploring themes of family, shame, burden, race, gender, and power.

“History is simple, but the past is complicated” ~Victor LaValle.

There is plenty of physical violence with Adelaide’s murderous family secret and the townspeople but the story’s psychological horror elements drive the story.

LaValle creates three diverse independent lone women while exploring race and gender but doesn’t fall into gender norms or stereotypes. I was hesitant about reading a book written by a man about strong, vulnerable women. However, LaValle sought feedback from women, including his wife, who advised him not to victimize the women and showed him when a woman would be vulnerable in a way a man might not see.

“One of the things I wanted to get across,” LaValle says, “is that the tenor of a lot of old westerns is, ‘Look how bold and brave these white men with the law and the government and guns all on their side were.’ And I wanted to say, ‘That’s not brave. What’s brave is to go out there when you know all those things are allied against you.’ I was astounded by the bravery of these women.”

LaValle takes that “soothe the savage beast” trope and creates a thrilling metaphorical monster, creating plenty of suspense and tension that drives the story forward while giving us plenty to think about with the family’s shame and burden when hiding secrets from the past.

Lone Women demands to be read slowly, savored, and contemplated. At times, I lost patience with the pacing and almost gave up, but all the praise from across the book community on the internet kept me curious as to why. I am glad I did hang in there because I would have missed out on some profound themes of family burden and shame that stood out for me, compelling characters that I will remember, and masterful storytelling that will have me thinking about for quite some time.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.