I really enjoyed this book. From the beginning I found it engaging. It was challenging, 90 years later, and on a different continent, to relate to the lives of these women, and yet the themes of misogyny, and fraud are still in play in 2024.

I found it well written and well edited. And I liked that it wasn't all perfectly 'wrapped up' at the end.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the Preview copy.

After two decades in a loveless marriage and with her two children finally in college, Evelyn has found a way out.

Reno - just six weeks as a residence will grant you an uncontested divorce, so Evelyn boards a train bound for the frontier, Unsure and shaky she slowly makes friends and meets women from different backgrounds but who all need a divorce and quick!

Depression era Reno is a far cry from Evelyn's previous existence, and she blossoms under the glare of the sun and that of a cowboy who takes a shine to the buttoned up church fearing woman.

An uplifting tale of a woman embracing her new found freedom and forging her own future.

I like the concept of this book but I overall did not love it. It was a bit slow in the beginning and took me a while to get into. I appreciate that there is need for detail and background, but I found it to be a bit too much. It took me a while to get through this because of the slow pacing.

Well what an interesting read. I enjoyed reading the background history of casinos and the whole build up of the area.
I was not aware of the six-week divorce but how the ordeal the ladies went through, came across well. The characters were a good mixture and I can imagine true to life. These ladies were brave to fight the stigma of being a divorcee in the nineteen thirties

I'd heard a bit about these "divorce ranches," where women would go for their required six week of residency in Nevada to get a divorce. This was a fun, interesting novel. The characters are well done, and I loved the plot.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

“Six Weeks in Reno” follows a group of women, including our main character, Evelyn Henderson, who leave their husbands and families in the midst of the prohibition to seek out the six week reprieve required for a divorce.

The story is very quaint. It mostly details the day to day going-ons of the women, known as “six-weekers” - going to the salon, going shopping, attending dance halls - and their relationships with one another. It becomes a slice of life in exceptional circumstances. Hedrick clearly has a very astute understanding of the ‘30’s and Reno, building an indisputable setting.

The story flies quickly, not giving us enough time to learn and understand the characters. I’ve never said this before, but I wish this book was longer so I had more space to get to know the characters! This would help establish more specific voices for each character and give us readers a chance to actually connect with everyone. This feels especially prevalent with the characters of Sundown, Beatrice and Madeline. We know nothing about them, aren’t given the chance to get to know them. But we’re expected to like and care for them. It’s impossible to do so.

Evelyn falls flat as our narrator. She’s overtly judgemental and so against change and acceptance of a different lifestyle that readers never get the opportunity to watch her grow. When she does begin to change and grow, she still falls back into her judgement, which makes each of these new discoveries frustrating. As I reader, I felt like I was having a conversation with an older family member at Christmas - so set in their ways and so difficult to discuss anything of substance without pushback year in and out. With every scenario presented, she makes a passing comment on how terrible it is, how she’s better than the other ladies. What could present as an interesting exploration of growth as we get older, shifting values or acceptance for those different from her becomes a grating, negativity ridden journal of sorts.

Where Hedrick’s writing falters the most is in her descriptions and inner dialogue. She relies on telling the reader everything and posing direct questions, rather than building nuance, to progress her story. A classic example of not showing, just telling. With every emotion , every situation and detail, explained to us in black and white, there’s little opportunity for a reader to explore and discover the characters for themselves. This takes the reader out of the experience of the story - we become an observer to the story rather than a part of the story.

She also relies on using “shocking” personal details, such as assault or bulimic tendencies, to colour the text rather than inform any actual consequences or story. This downplays the severity of these things and makes the characters less believable. As a reader, it begins to feel taxing and frustrating.

Whilst an engaging concept, and has all the makings of an interesting story, “Six Weeks in Reno” falls quite flat unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the DRC.

It's 1931. Evelyn goes to a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada. She has 6 weeks and she will get an uncontested divorce. The story is full of fun, yet it makes you think of your own marriage and life. Loved it! I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. This review is my feelings towards the book.

This reminded me of the 1939 film The Women, in which socialites go to a "divorce ranch" in Reno, though the tone is different - instead of barbed humour, it's more of a coming-of-age story. The main protagonist Evelyn is nearing forty, but after an unhappy marriage, still needing to find happiness and self-fulfilment. The novel is structured around the 6 week stay in Reno and written in a first person, present-tense voice - so it feels very immediate, and almost like a diary. Overall, it's a gentle, easy read, following Evelyn's experiences in Reno, as she regains her confidence, though there are more dramatic moments too.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This isn’t my usual genre, but I recently read another book about the divorce ranch in Reno. I hadn’t come across this before and found the whole concept intriguing. In the 1930s divorce was scandalous. Reno became known as the divorce capital because women could stay at a boarding house for six weeks and then apply for divorce. They boarded with other women in the same situation and whiled away their time riding, reading or going out in the evenings, usually in a group.

Evelyn has escaped her loveless marriage and the story is mainly about her growth as she finds her road to freedom. The reason for her leaving aren’t revealed until the end. We meet other characters and their backstory also frame the themes explored through the book. It certainly captures this small time capsule and attitudes and I’ve enjoyed the peek into this little known (to me) aspect of social history. It’s well written, quite slow but ultimately rewarding. Clever final twist and all the ends are neatly tied. Not quite a 4* but because it kept my attention and I found it easy to visualise the places and people, 3* us too mean.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and author, Lucy H. Hedrick for the ARC of Six Weeks in Reno. As a fan of historical fiction, I really enjoyed reading about the history of how Reno became known as the divorce city.

It's 1931 and Evelyn Henderson has decided that she is tired of her loveless marriage to a man who hasn't been employed in several years. Despite the scandal that divorcing in the 1930s will create, she decides to go to Reno where she can obtain a divorce after establishing a six residency. While there she stays at one of the established "divorce ranches" that play host for women in Evelyn's position.

On the train on the way there, at the ranch where she stays and at social events that are planned for the "six weekers", as the women are called, Evelyn meets a myriad of women who are also seeking divorces. Each woman comes with her own story of why she is there. It was interesting to see how Evelyn and some of the other women evolved on the brink of freedom from their married lives.

I did find some of the reading tedious, but feel that Six Weeks in Reno is overall a realistic story of the evolution of Reno as the "divorce city."

Six Weeks in Reno is a novel following a woman in 1930's who arrives in Reno to bide her time while she waits to get her divorce. She meets many other women going through the same process for many different reasons and, well, events ensue... 🤨

I thought this novel was good. It dealt with many tough topics, especially for that time. It was interesting what women had to go through in the depression to get a divorce. I really did not like the main character. She was extremely self-righteous and petty at many times throughout the novel. But what this did for me was expose the trials of the other women who were in this with her and in the end, this made me reconsider things when the twist is revealed. 3 stars. ✨

In 1931, the mere concept of being a divorcee was utterly scandalous. However, for Evelyn Henderson, societal opinions were of no consequence. After enduring two decades of an unwanted marriage she was encouraged to marry by her family. Evelyn mustered the courage to journey to Reno, Nevada, famously recognized as the divorce capital. There, she resided at the Flying N ranch for six weeks in order to obtain a divorce. It was at the ranch that she encountered other women who, like her, had valiantly defied the stigma of divorce.

The historical context underpinning this book fascinated me, holding an air of intrigue. I found the book's tone particularly appealing, as it skillfully mirrored the style and mindset of the era. The character development had a profound emotional impact on me, further enhanced by the vivid portrayal of Reno's historical setting.

This is a wonderful story of a woman finding her freedom from a loveless marriage in the 1930s. Evelyn sets out to get a divorce from her husband by traveling to Reno Nevada to establish residency to get an uncontested divorce and to get around the strict requirements for divorce in New York. Evelyn meets many other women who are going to acheive the same goal , as well as some Hollywood handsome cowboys.

I greatly enjoyed Evelyns story and her growth in her comfort in herself and respect for other in all stages of life. Evelyn is very much from the upper middle class to upper class in the time of the great depression. With this comes many stereotypes on her part as well as not a great understanding of hardships that others are going through. Also this girl must have been the worst black cloud in this group of “six weekers”. Every bad thing to happen in this book happened to Evelyn or those around her.

I was not a fan of us getting the whole picture as to why she is divorcing her husband until the last 20% of the book. Up until then it was she fell out of love with him because he was not putting in the effort to find a way to support his family in a society that relies heavily on traditional gender standards. Then it’s because he is having an affair with a man.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book at all. The plot dragged on and on to me on mundane descriptions. I felt like I was living a regular day over and over again with no end to the story. It was just like words on paper. I almost stopped reading the book but made myself finish.

I did not feel a connection to any of the characters.

The description of this book made me think that it would be a lot of character introspection and emotional processing. Instead, vivid descriptions and significant action in every chapter meant that reading it felt like joining a period-adventure in 1930's Reno. I found myself wishing for more backstory on even minor characters and would definitely read a sequel.

I loved how this book takes the reader through the timeframe of the six weeks spent by the women seeking divorces in Reno. It’s an engaging story with realistic characters- a great summer read.

A good period book about divorcees living on a ranch in Reno dyring the sixties for 6 weeks in order granted a divorce after living there people could get a "quickie divorce" ir makes people women especially realize how life has changed amd I for one am thankfully for a no fault divorce state as things do not get dragged out, the book started out slow but the mystery was good and our main gal was interesting and I love a good time period book and this isn't something I had read about before

An unfortunate DNF 😭 I really wanted to love this. The idea was great but the execution just didn’t work for me. Once she got to Reno it became pretty dull & I didn’t really care for Evelyn’s character, she was quite judgy. I also didn’t understand the constant vomiting she did? Is it supposed to be hinting that she had an ED or what?

I was fascinated by the historical story behind this book and found it really intriguing. Six weeks in Reno is all you’d need to divorce your husband - that and someone swearing you had t left the town for that time. I warmed to the main character but did find some things a little clunky. Lots of the ‘warnings’ about the real estate deal felt forced.
Loved the side characters and their stories and felt the women in general were really sympathetic.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It's 1931 and to be a divorcee is scandalous...it isn't something done in our family; what will the neighbors think; etc. etc. For Evelyn Henderson it doesn't matter what anyone thinks! After 20 years of marriage, most of it with a husband she didn't want to marry in the first place, but her family insisted, Evelyn had the courage to travel to Reno and stay for six weeks in order to get divorced. Staying at the Flying N ranch she meets other women like herself who braved the adversity of being divorced. Mixed in with them were 3 people, two men and a woman who were trying to get these ladies to invest in their resort. This was an interesting novel as we too become involved with each woman, their trials and tribulation and their hopes for a better future. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.