Not a good book. Who was there to like. The women were very stupid ( )

The premise interested me, but I found the story rather boring and the ending unneeded. ( )

The Divorcees takes an almost forgotten part of history (Nevada’s more liberal divorce laws of the mid-twentieth century and the industry that sprang up around it) and weaves it into a story about independence, trust and the restrictions on women at the time. It’s a relatively slow moving story but still interesting for the history it digs into.

The main character is Lois, who wants a divorce from her husband because she doesn’t want a child, and she doesn’t want to live her life with her husband. She escaped her father’s house straight into marriage and now she’s at a loss. Having been an outsider due to her father’s job and her family’s ethnicity, Lois finds that marriage changes none of that. She wants her own freedom, and the only way she can do that is through divorce. But in the 1950s, divorce is not as accepted so her father organises for her to travel to Reno to reside for six weeks at a ‘divorce ranch’. There she will meet the laws for divorce in Nevada (a resident for six weeks) and the owner of the ranch can keep an eye on her as per her father’s instruction. At first, Lois stays in every night at her father’s request and doesn’t go out to the bars and casinos with the other women living at the ranch. They are all more wealthy and of a higher class and shun Lois somewhat. But when the exotic Greer arrives, all the women are enthralled by her mystery. Greer and Lois become friends and things get wilder – dares in bars and casinos until they plan the ultimate escape…

Lois is an awkward character, not really knowing what she wants for a lot of the novel and then not knowing how to go about it. She cares a lot about what others think and overanalyses the looks and comments from the other women. Greer helps her to grow into herself and become more decisive, but she’s never going to be a rapid decision maker although the reader sees glimpses of her growth at the end of the novel. For the most part, the other women getting divorces are caricatures and not explored overly in depth. Most of them are planning divorce in order to get married almost straightaway, or finding that the road post-Reno isn’t going to be so easy. There is drama in the form of drunken (almost) ex-husbands showing up at the ranch, as well as the women getting drunk and calling their married beloveds. For a reasonable chunk of the novel, the women go out and get drunk, smoke and gamble. Some engage with other men, but when Greer comes on the scene the stakes get higher. All want to impress her and she sets up various dares of which Lois excels at, wanting to impress her.

The pacing is deliberately slow to evoke the feeling of waiting – for divorce, for normal life to resume and for Lois to realise what’s going on with Greer. When her realisation comes, it’s a tough blow for Lois but it doesn’t seem to affect her all that much. (She’s a curious character, left unfulfilled and searching for something that she can’t name). The slow pace could be seen as frustrating for some, as there isn’t a great deal happening in this novel in the lead up to Greer arriving. It’s a novel you need to be in the mood for. I found it interesting and was willing to go with the flow as the characters revealed parts of themselves.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

In The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird, Lois sets off from her home in suburban Chicago for a ranch in Reno with a quickie divorce promised at the end of the six-week stay. At the ranch, she struggles to find her place with the other women and with her limited options once the divorce goes through. This novel starts slowly, and somehow the language and rhythm of the book have an old-fashioned feeling that matches the 1940s setting which may be good or bad. A plot finally arrives in the last third of the book that saves the day and makes The Divorcees a worthwhile choice for readers of literary fiction who enjoy character-driven historical fiction. ( )

It is early 1951 and Lois Saunders is sent to a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada by her controlling father in order to obtain a divorce in six weeks. Here she meets several young women, all wealthy who are attempting to do the same thing. Lois is an odd duck, introverted and extremely naive for a woman her age. She has always had difficulty making friends. Early on during her stay a new comer arrives named Greer Lang and Lois is immediately drawn to her. Greer is beautiful and oozes self confidence and awareness, something Lois desperately wants for herself. They strike up a friendship and Lois feels more and more self confident the more time she spends with Greer. But as the weeks go by Greer seems to exude a strange strong hold on Lois and invites her to do things she would never have done before such as drinking and gambling. Lois seems to have developed a girl crush on Greer, not in a sexual way but as an influencer. The stakes rise when Lois realizes she will not be getting any financial support from either her soon to be ex husband or her father. She will have to either return to her oppressive fathers home and marry again or make her own way in the world. Greer appears to offer her a chance to make her own life for herself, but at what cost. Is Greer really the person she claims to be. This story was quite interesting to me, the time period, the constraints on single women and how women were supposed to behave politically and domestically. Clearly a very oppressive time for women. I would classify this novel as historical fiction with a bit of coming of age. Recommended with four stars.
Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen/read an ARC version of this novel. ( )