Which Victor LaValle book did you read first? Mine was The Changeling. Brutal, devastating, ambitious, and incredibly weird. It made me reassess what a literary horror novel could be. I’m excited for the TV adaptation.
So of course, as soon as I had the opportunity to read LaValle’s latest book, Lone Women, I dived right in. I was immediately welcomed into the strange world of Adelaide Henry, as she is fleeing her childhood home, literally burning it to the ground. Along with a suspiciously heavy trunk, she moves to Montana, to start a new life, and cultivate a plot of land. But Adelaide is laden with secrets she is desperate to keep dormant, and when she unintentionally evokes the wrath of a few people, things quickly get out of hand.
For some bizarre reason, I’m frequently hesitant to read historical fiction; Lone Women being set in early twentieth-century America. But a good writer knows that great characters transcend the constraints of time, and Victor has certainly achieved this with Adelaide et al. As a single black woman, Adelaide faces many of the same challenges still around over 100 years later. She is tenacious, yet deeply troubled, and I love her. Her initial escape triggers such an exciting trail of events; I raced through this book in about three days.
I don’t want to give too much away, because the way this book unfolded is why I loved it so much. But I will say Lone Women is a perfect blend of historical and horror fiction, with incredibly well-crafted characters, and an incredibly strong sense of place and time. It is such an exciting time to be a LaValle fan, you guys are going to love this.
California Reading 