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Review: Olivia, Mourning by Yael Politis
Olivia, Mourning (Olivia #1)
written by Yael Politis
published by Yael Politis
find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads
Why did I pick this book: I was asked by the author to review this book. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)
Did I enjoy this book: I loved it.
Go ahead and write down this author’s name now because she’s going to be one of your favorite writers as soon as you read this book. Politis has that rare ability to completely suck you into the story and forget everything that’s going on around you.
I would close the book and it would take my brain a fraction of a second to remember that I’m not on a farm in Michigan with these characters. I’m just sitting in my family room. And how long has it been? There’s no way I’ve been reading that long. OMG, my kid just missed the bus!!?? Again???!! I swear if I don’t get some trashier literature that school’s going to report me to child protective services.
But all kidding aside. This book. This author. Phenomenal.
Would I recommend it: Yes.
Will I read it again: I understand there’s a sequel, The Way the World Is. I’ll probably be too busy reading that to reread this one.
About the book: Forced to live with her brother and the overbearing woman who will soon be his wife, Olivia Killion is determined to gain her independence by inheriting 80 acres in far off Michigan. Her father’s will bequeathed the land to whichever of his offspring would put in a crop and stake a claim to it. As Olivia insists, “I’m sprung off him just as much as Avis or Tobey.”
The problem: she’s seventeen, female, and it’s 1841.
She has a friend who would make a perfect partner for this endeavor. Mourning Free knows how to run a farm, having worked many years for local farmers. More importantly, Olivia has complete trust in him and no fear of a romantic entanglement developing between them.
Mourning will put in the crop for her and she will then help him buy land of his own.
The problem: Mourning is black, the orphaned son of runaway slaves, and reluctant to travel and work with a white girl. He especially fears the private agents from the south who patrol the free states, hunting fugitive slaves.
Olivia believes she and Mourning can make their partnership work and they set off together. All goes well, despite the drudgery of survival in an isolated log cabin. Incapable of acknowledging her feelings for Mourning, Olivia thinks her biggest problem is her unrequited romantic interest in their young, single neighbor. Until she is betrayed and violated and her world falls apart.
Strong-willed, vulnerable, and compassionate, Olivia is a compelling protagonist on a journey to find a way to do the right thing in a world in which so much is wrong.
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