This historical fiction/horror follows Adelaide as she leaves her home in California after covering up the deaths of her parents. She decides to start a new life in Montana as a homesteader with the secret that has ruled her life locked in the steamer trunk along with her. Once she arrives, she begins to put down roots and join the community - finding other women homesteading without husbands. But when her secret gets out, it may be the end of Adelaide and her new life.
I'm not a real big historical fiction reader but I do think I found my niche in these historical fiction horror subgenre. I absolutely love the mix of genres and find the historical fiction portion to feel more like the setting/background to the horror so it doesn't feel as dry as I find regular historical fiction. Obviously, there is a sliding scale and I find ones like Alma Katsu's The Hunger (which I also loved) to be more of a slow burn compared to Lone Women which really hit the ground running.
The characters in this are absolutely remarkable. Before picking this up, I heard from some Booktubers I watch that they DNF'd this in the middle because it slowed down and lost their interest. I was a bit concerned, especially given my 'meh' feelings toward historical fiction. However, I loved these characters so much that I loved reading about their more mundane daily struggle of living life out in such a remote area. I did find the horror subplot to be a consistent thread and threat throughout the read but the middle did feel more character-focused rather than plot-focused. The characters are complex and each has their own reason for wanting a life out here. While this read does have an added supernatural/creature horror element added, the characters we encounter show the more realistic horrors of this life.
The supernatural/horror element was fantastic and I loved how we were shown right at the beginning of the book that something was off. We get the horror reveal pretty early on in the read which leaves a lot of time for us to see the impact/effects of that horror played out in this new setting. We do get some gore, but much less overall than I was expecting given how the book opened. I loved the amount of backstory we get as the plot progresses and how much depth and character development is wrapped up in the horror. This was a case where the horror elements deepened the story instead of being just thrown on top as a gimmick. We also get an added horror element of what desperate people will do to others which I think was a realistic addition to the plot.
I would imagine trying to find a satisfying ending to a book like this must be difficult but I loved where we ended up. In the author's note at the end, LaValle credits his wife for the ending so big kudos to her! I do think the ending might be a bit divisive because the story goes off the rails a little bit, but overall I do feel like it fit the plot and characters we'd been following through the book. I also enjoyed the little epilogue we got so we were able to see the aftermath of the big ending scene and where some of these characters ended up
Overall, this was a fantastic read and I'm so glad I picked this up from the library. We get a great cast of characters, wonderful horror elements, and an interesting plot to follow between horror scenes.
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