The Divorcees
Rowan Beaird
(Author)
Description
For fans of Beautiful Ruins and Lessons in Chemistry, a novel set at a 1950s Reno "divorce ranch," about the complex friendship between two women who dare to imagine a different future
"A delicious literary page-turner from a fierce new voice." --Rebecca Makkai "The sunshot pool at the Golden Yarrow, the searing desert heat, the dark glamour of the casinos will stay with me for a long time...An excellent, deeply compelling read." --Lauren Groff Lois Saunders thought that marrying the right man would finally cure her loneliness. But as picture-perfect as her husband is, she is suffocating in their loveless marriage. In 1951, though, unhappiness is hardly grounds for divorce--except in Reno, Nevada. At the Golden Yarrow, the most respectable of Reno's famous "divorce ranches," Lois finds herself living with half a dozen other would-be divorcees, all in Reno for the six weeks' residency that is the state's only divorce requirement. They spend their days riding horses and their nights flirting with cowboys, and it's as wild and fun as Lake Forest, Illinois, is prim and stifling. But it isn't until Greer Lang arrives that Lois's world truly cracks open. Gorgeous, beguiling, and completely indifferent to societal convention, Greer is unlike anyone Lois has ever met--and she sees something in Lois that no one else ever has. Under her influence, Lois begins to push against the limits that have always restrained her. But how much can she really trust her mysterious new friend? And how far will she go to forge her independence, on her own terms? Set in the glamorous, dizzying world of 1950s Reno, where housewives and movie stars rubbed shoulders at gin-soaked casinos, The Divorcees is a riveting page-turner and a dazzling exploration of female friendship, desire, and freedom.Product Details
Price
$28.99
$26.96
Publisher
Flatiron Books
Publish Date
March 19, 2024
Pages
272
Dimensions
6.12 X 9.25 X 1.0 inches | 1.0 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781250896582
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About the Author
Rowan Beaird is a writer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, and The Common, among others. She is the recipient of the Ploughshares Emerging Writer Award, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart. She has received scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and StoryStudio. She currently works at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Divorcees is her first novel.
Reviews
"This is the novel I've always wanted to read about divorce in midcentury America: the glamour and underbelly of Reno's divorce ranches, the support of female friendship, and the impossibility (and glorious possibilities) of starting over as a single woman. The Divorcées is a delicious literary page-turner from a fierce new voice."
--Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You and The Great Believers
--Lauren Groff, New York Times bestselling author of Matrix and Fates and Furies "A stunning debut, Rowan Beaird's The Divorcées is a glittering desert mirage behind which lurks a shocking web of secrets. Despite the new friendships and lives being built at the Golden Yarrow, each woman on the ranch harbors a truth they aren't willing to share: that they're playing a part and they're willing to do whatever it takes to keep the fiction alive. Tense, dark, and richly layered, lovers of Patricia Highsmith will devour this compulsively readable, standout novel."
--Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters "The Divorcées, a sultry fever dream of a novel set on a Reno divorce ranch in the 1950s, should be read by a pool on a blisteringly hot day, preferably with a drink in hand. Its lush, perfectly wrought prose--and the secrets and deceptions at the center of the seductive plot--will unsettle you and keep you turning the pages. This book shimmers and startles on every page."
--Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light "If Patricia Highsmith and George Cukor teamed up to reimagine Thelma and Louise, it might look something like this smoldering, addictive, and beguiling novel of women on the verge. Whether they're on the verge of dissolution, liberation, or some fraught state in-between, Rowan Beaird captures their becoming in prose that thrums with an anxious and defiant eros. A knockout of a debut."
--Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men
