I loved the idea of a novel set at a Reno Divorce Ranch in 1951. Lois has taken the train from Chicago to live at the Golden Yarrow for 6 weeks awaiting a no contest divorce from her husband. He has not abused her; rather she has gone from living with one cold dictatorial man to another and she is slowly realizing there is so much more to being in the world than housework and women's groups and behaving like a lady. Greer Lang arrives at the ranch soon after Lois and the 2 become best, fast friends. This debut is well-written, but the days are repetitive and thus I was bored in spots. The story picked up for the final 20 and the ending was fine, but it did not make up for Lois' utter naivete, and the lack of fully fleshed out characters.

I want to thank BookBrowse for the ARC of the Divorcees, by Rowan Beaird. This novel is a well written glimpse into the lives of women during the early 1950's traveling to Reno, NV for a quick divorce.
The novel portrayed how women of that time period were at an enormous disadvantage if they dared step out of the 1950's expected ideal of womanhood.
The story was a bit slow to get started, and depressing, but held my interest.

This book was an interesting story centered around a divorce ranch in Nevada. It was easy to read, and the author used good descriptions so I could easily visualize scenes.
However, I didn't feel any connection to the characters. I would have liked stronger character development. Instead it just became a telling of events for me. Some drama was introduced toward the end of the story, but the book also fell flat for me at the end. I would really give it a 3 1/2 rating.

The theme of this book was interesting. In the 50's women went to "divorce ranches" to obtain residency for a quick divorce in Nevada. The first half of the book was introducing all the women seeking a divorce. The middle of the book was tedious as they always went to Reno to the casinos. They all drank too much. They rode horses all afternoon and some used the pool. The last half of the book actually told the story and revealed all the women's outcomes. Truly slugged my way through this book.