Lone Women Quiz: Test Your Recall of Adelaide’s Montana

Test your knowledge of Victor LaValle’s 2023 historical horror novel, Lone Women. This quiz covers the entire book, from Adelaide Henry’s flight from a burning California farmhouse to the founding of a hidden Montana town. The 20 questions below mix multiple-choice and short-answer formats and are divided into four categories: plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. After the final question, you will find a complete answer key with brief explanations.

Quiz Structure:

8 Plot/Sequence Questions
5 Character Motivation Questions
4 Theme/Symbol Questions
3 Synthesis Questions

Plot and Sequence Questions

1. What is the very first thing Adelaide Henry does in the novel’s opening chapter?

A) She buys a steamer ticket to Seattle. B) She douses her family’s farmhouse in gasoline and sets it on fire. C) She unlocks the steamer trunk to feed the creature inside. D) She writes a letter to Mattie T. Cramer asking for advice.

2. On the ship from Los Angeles to Seattle, why must Adelaide sleep on deck?

A) She cannot afford a berth. B) She refuses to be below deck with her trunk. C) The steward tells her the berth she paid for is unavailable. D) She is afraid of a fire breaking out below deck.

3. What happens to the Mudge family—a mother and her four blind sons—after they spend the night in the abandoned hotel with Adelaide?

A) They are arrested for horse theft the next morning. B) They vanish overnight, leaving their belongings behind. C) They decide to travel with Adelaide to her claim. D) They are killed by the creature from the trunk.

4. What discovery does Adelaide make when she finally inspects the box of Mudges’ photographs in her root cellar?

A) The photos contain images of her own parents. B) The photos are all of a mountain lion. C) The box contains no images of the Mudges, only unfamiliar family portraits. D) The photos have all been deliberately burned.

5. After Matthew Kirby is attacked by the creature, what does Adelaide give him that represents most of her remaining money?

A) A gold locket that belonged to her mother. B) Twenty dollars. C) The deed to her homestead claim. D) A tin of dried peaches and five dollars.

6. What happens immediately after the creature kills Mrs. Mudge and two of her sons at Adelaide’s cabin?

A) Adelaide chains the creature back inside the trunk. B) The two youngest Mudges ride away, threatening revenge. C) The creature flies to Big Sandy and attacks the opera house. D) Matthew Kirby arrives and shoots the creature.

7. How does Matthew Kirby’s uncle, Finn, physically change after his ride from Adelaide’s cabin?

A) He loses his right arm. B) He goes blind. C) He becomes mute. D) He loses his right arm, and Matthew becomes mute.

8. Short Answer: What is the name of the town the women establish at the end of the novel, and for whom is it named?

Character Motivation Questions

9. Why does Adelaide choose to travel all the way to Montana instead of settling in a town closer to her California home?

A) She has family in Big Sandy. B) A railroad pamphlet promises unlimited opportunities. C) She decides six hours is too close to home and that the wagon driver Mr. Cole would know where she went. D) The real estate salesman in Seattle offered her free land.

10. After Matthew Kirby learns the secret of the trunk, Adelaide considers killing him. Why does she ultimately let him live?

A) She is physically too weak to lift his rifle. B) Grace begs her to spare him. C) She makes a conscious decision as an act of defiance against her parents’ conditioning. D) The creature whispers to her that Matthew is innocent.

11. What drives Mrs. Mudge (posing as Rose Morrison) and her sons to target Adelaide’s homestead?

A) They want to steal the steamer trunk, believing it contains gold. B) They intend to seize the homestead for themselves. C) Mrs. Mudge is seeking revenge for Adelaide’s rude behavior at the dance. D) They are working secretly for Mr. Olsen.

12. Why does Grace slap Mrs. Jerrine Reed during their meeting about the teaching program?

A) Mrs. Reed insults Adelaide’s character. B) Mrs. Reed subtly makes support conditional on forcing Sam to conform to rigid gender norms. C) Mrs. Reed reveals she knows Grace killed her husband. D) Mrs. Reed refuses to pay the promised salary.

13. Short Answer: When Joab Mudge confronts Elizabeth on the opera house stage and asks why he was spared, what explanation does Adelaide give?

Theme and Symbol Questions

14. The novel’s epigraph quotes Toni Morrison: “Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” What does this epigraph most directly foreshadow about Adelaide’s journey?

A) She will literally learn to fly like her sister Elizabeth. B) She must shed the burdens of secrecy and inherited shame to find any form of liberation. C) She must dispose of her parents’ physical bodies to escape. D) She must leave all her possessions behind to survive the winter.

15. Adelaide’s mother, Eleanor, frequently tells her, “A woman is a mule.” Within the context of the novel, what does this mantra primarily represent?

A) The stubbornness required to survive in Montana. B) The belief that women are physically stronger than men. C) A lesson in relentless toil, sacrifice, and inherited burden passed from mother to daughter. D) A secret code for communicating with the creature.

16. What does the steamer trunk symbolize throughout the novel?

A) The promise of unlimited opportunities in the West. B) The inescapable weight of family legacy, monstrous secrets, and the burden of caretaking. C) The literal treasure Adelaide needs to fund her new farm. D) The fragile nature of new beginnings on the frontier.

17. Short Answer: The opera house serves as a central location for community gatherings. What does it become at the climax of the novel when the Busy Bees and Stranglers bring the condemned women there?

Synthesis Questions

18. Adelaide and Mrs. Jerrine Reed are both women of influence in their communities, yet they are profoundly different. Which statement best captures this contrast as revealed through the novel’s events?

A) Adelaide is a recluse, while Mrs. Reed is a social butterfly who means well. B) Adelaide harbors a literal monstrous secret she protects, while Mrs. Reed’s monstrousness manifests through social manipulation, a murderous Vigilance Committee, and efforts to enforce conformity. C) Adelaide relies on male allies for protection, while Mrs. Reed builds a network exclusively of powerful women. D) Adelaide eventually flees Montana, while Mrs. Reed remains to lead Big Sandy.

19. The novel draws a deliberate distinction between the human “monsters” and the supernatural creature, Elizabeth. Based on the events of the book, which statement best describes this distinction?

A) Elizabeth kills indiscriminately, while the human villains never commit murder. B) The human villains, like the Stranglers and the Mudge family, choose violence to enforce power and secrecy, while Elizabeth’s violence is often a protective or reactive force, and she ultimately chooses mercy. C) Elizabeth is immortal and cannot be killed, while the human villains are easily defeated. D) There is no real distinction made; all monsters in the novel are equally evil.

20. Short Answer: The novel ends with the founding of the town of Two Sisters. How does this ending complicate or revise the epigraph’s idea that one must “give up the shit that weighs you down” in order to fly?

Answer Key

B) She douses her family’s farmhouse in gasoline and sets it on fire. The very first chapter shows Adelaide pouring gasoline over her parents’ bodies, lighting a match, and burning the house as she flees with her heavy trunk.
C) The steward tells her the berth she paid for is unavailable. Upon boarding, a steward informs her she must sleep on deck. Adelaide notes she is the only Black woman passenger, which contributes to her acute sense of isolation.
B) They vanish overnight, leaving their belongings behind. Mr. Olsen reveals the next morning that the Mudges are gone. Adelaide searches the hotel and finds their belongings still in the room, a mystery that deepens when Mrs. Mudge later reappears under a false name.
C) The box contains no images of the Mudges, only unfamiliar family portraits. When Adelaide finally examines the photos, she is surprised to find they are not of the Mudge family at all, leaving the origins of the mysterious box unresolved.
B) Twenty dollars. To secure Matthew’s silence after the attack, Adelaide gives him twenty dollars, which is most of her remaining savings, and he accepts the money without protest, ending the tenderness between them.
B) The two youngest Mudges ride away, threatening revenge. After Elizabeth kills their mother and two older brothers, the youngest boys flee on horseback. Adelaide contemplates that the demon’s killing beyond her bloodline might mean her own freedom from the family curse.
D) He loses his right arm, and Matthew becomes mute. Grace later tells Adelaide that Finn blames her for Matthew’s muteness and the loss of his right arm, both sustained during the traumatic encounter at her cabin.
Two Sisters, named for the Henry sisters, Adelaide and Elizabeth. The town, hidden between protective hills, grows to sixty-five residents. It is named in honor of the two sisters who lead the community, and it exists outside official maps and histories.
C) She decides six hours is too close to home and that the wagon driver Mr. Cole would know where she went. After briefly considering settling in San Pedro, Adelaide rejects the idea because it is too close to Lucerne Valley, and Mr. Cole would know her location.
C) She makes a conscious decision as an act of defiance against her parents’ conditioning. The narrative explicitly states that letting Matthew live felt like defiance against the ingrained instinct from her parents that the world would end if anyone found out.
B) They intend to seize the homestead for themselves. When the Mudges appear at Adelaide’s cabin, Mrs. Mudge makes it clear they plan to take over the property before Elizabeth emerges and kills her.
B) Mrs. Reed subtly makes support conditional on forcing Sam to conform to rigid gender norms. Grace recognizes that accepting the funding would mean betraying Sam’s identity, so she slaps Mrs. Reed and leaves, sacrificing financial survival for her child’s dignity.
Adelaide tells him that Sam whispered he deserved another chance. After the slaughter in the opera house, Joab confronts Adelaide. She reveals that Sam’s quiet intercession is the only reason Elizabeth spared his life, offering him an unearned mercy.
B) She must shed the burdens of secrecy and inherited shame to find any form of liberation. The epigraph frames the entire narrative. Adelaide’s physical flight to Montana only begins her journey; true liberation comes when she stops hiding her sister and confesses her secret to her friends.
C) A lesson in relentless toil, sacrifice, and inherited burden passed from mother to daughter. Eleanor uses the mantra to train Adelaide in endurance and acceptance of a hard life, reinforcing that her burdens will become Adelaide’s own.
B) The inescapable weight of family legacy, monstrous secrets, and the burden of caretaking. The trunk is physically described as impossibly heavy, requiring multiple men to lift it. It holds Elizabeth, the literal and metaphorical weight Adelaide has carried since birth.
It becomes a public square for a lynching and, subsequently, the stage for Elizabeth’s revelation. The Busy Bees and Stranglers place nooses on the women and stand them on the trunk. Adelaide arrives to beg for their lives before Elizabeth emerges from the darkened upper tier, transforming the intended lynching into a family reckoning and slaughter of the mob.
B) Adelaide harbors a literal monstrous secret she protects, while Mrs. Reed’s monstrousness manifests through social manipulation, a murderous Vigilance Committee, and efforts to enforce conformity. Adelaide’s burden is inherited and physical; Mrs. Reed’s is a chosen social cruelty. The novel contrasts the hidden supernatural “monster” with the human monstrosity of mob justice and enforced social norms.
B) The human villains, like the Stranglers and the Mudge family, choose violence to enforce power and secrecy, while Elizabeth’s violence is often a protective or reactive force, and she ultimately chooses mercy. Elizabeth kills the Mudges in defense of Adelaide and spares her sister, the other women, and Joab. The Stranglers, by contrast, choose lynching as a tool of social control.
The ending suggests that flight is not a solitary act but a communal one, and that you don’t have to shed everything—the “shit” of the past can be integrated, carried by a chosen family, and even transformed into the foundation for a new, hidden, and sustainable life. Elizabeth is not killed or re-imprisoned alone; she finds a role in the new community, loved by children. The past is not erased (the coordinates are wiped from maps), but it is carried forward collectively. The town’s name, Two Sisters, makes their once-shameful bond a public legacy.

How did you do?

16-20 correct: You’ve proved up your claim. The land—and this intricate novel—is yours.
10-15 correct: A strong showing. Consider revisiting the Lone Women questions and answers to sharpen your memory.
1-9 correct: The plains are vast and full of secrets. Return to the main Lone Women guide to reacquaint yourself with Adelaide’s journey.

For a deeper dive into the novel’s conclusion, read our Lone Women ending explained breakdown.