The Divorcées
Set in Nevada in the 1950s, this is a novel about a group of women staying in one of the “ranches” for the six weeks they must wait for their divorce to be finalized. Lois Saunders from Chicago finds the Golden Yarrow ranch comfortable but uninspiring until the arrival of Greer. She says the surname she is using, Lang, is her married name, but this may not be the truth. Lois finds something both glamorous and mysterious about Greer.
Inevitably Lois falls in love with Greer, who guides her through indulging in petty thefts from a casino towards the dangers but rewards of a much larger theft. However, the novel is much more than the growing tension felt by Lois about immediate possibilities. It covers her growth from a rather simple-minded young matron to an independent woman making her own decisions in a new and exciting city.
This novel covers that period in U.S. history when women started finding their individual personality rather than being merely an extension of a father or husband. The anxiousness of the women at the ranch about the reactions of their soon-to-be ex-husbands, combined with Lois’s interior monologues, reinforce the sense of unease about the drastic step they are taking towards freedom.
To be divorced seemed glamorous at the time—it was the realm of film stars—but this novel illustrates the vulnerability of women who have chosen to step away from the masculine support they have always, however reluctantly, depended upon. While the characterization and action in the novel leave something to be desired, the attitudes of the time and the disturbing sense of uncertainty are revealed clearly and in depth.
