A review by rorikae
Lone Women by Victor LaValle

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

'Lone Women' by Victor LaValle is an engaging horror novel that focuses on one woman attempting to flee her past by moving east to become a homesteader. 
Adelaide sets her childhood home and her parents corpses afire and then leaves for Montana with only a locked steamer trunk. She's determined to leave behind the life that she lived and the past that has plagued her family. But she's brought along a sliver of it in the steamer trunk and as she finally begins to settle into her new life in Montana, what lurks in the steamer trunk begins to grow restless.
LaValle is an expert at slow, character driven horror and he knocks it out of the park in 'Lone Women.' He slowly unravels Adelaide's truth and what is in her steamer trunk while also building our understanding of her character. By the time we learn what is in the trunk, we're fully invested in Adelaide and her desire to create a new life for herself. This story is very much rooted in the characters and the women who are working to create a new life for themselves by homesteading. This cast is fully fledged and easy to care for, especially when set in light of the more monstrous characters that are their foils. In the end, this story highlights how humans are the true monsters.  
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