Upon fleeing her loveless marriage, Lois Gorski finds herself back under the control of her strict father and is dispatched to The Golden Yarrow – a divorce ranch in Nevada. There she will spend six weeks under yet another person’s control until she can claim residency in the state and meet the legal requirements for a quick, discreet divorce.

But at The Golden Yarrow, she feels at odds with the other women. Lonely, incapable of fitting in and once again constrained by someone else’s agenda, she moves through the days disinterestedly.

With an ensemble of vulnerable other women staying at The Golden Yarrow, debut-novelist Rowan Beaird creates a compelling atmosphere that is as brittle as the desert grass. Long, hot days pass into drunken nights spent in the seedy casinos of Reno. But the monotony is broken when an enigmatic guest arrives during the night. Lois is fascinated, and the dynamic is fundamentally changed.

Paced as languidly as a six-week stay in the desert, The Divorcées is a slow burn. It’s the dynamics of the women and their strong characterisation that compels the reader. Lois’s sense of frustration and longing amid the societal pressures of 1950s America is clear and the setting of the ranch offers a fascinating insight into a unique relic of a different time.