One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow: A Novel

Written by Olivia Hawker

Narrated by Jackie Zebrowski

From the bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night comes a powerful and poetic novel of survival and sacrifice on the American frontier.

Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.

Losing her husband to Cora’s indiscretion is another hardship for stoic Nettie Mae. But as a brutal Wyoming winter bears down, Cora and Nettie Mae have no choice but to come together as one family—to share the duties of working the land and raising their children. There’s Nettie Mae’s son, Clyde—no longer a boy, but not yet a man—who must navigate the road to adulthood without a father to guide him, and Cora’s daughter, Beulah, who is as wild and untamable as her prairie home.

Bound by the uncommon threads in their lives and the challenges that lie ahead, Cora and Nettie Mae begin to forge an unexpected sisterhood. But when a love blossoms between Clyde and Beulah, bonds are once again tested, and these two resilient women must finally decide whether they can learn to trust each other—or else risk losing everything they hold dear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Oct 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781799748694

Olivia Hawker

Olivia Hawker is the Washington Post bestselling author of The Rise of Light; One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction; and The Ragged Edge of Night. Olivia resides in the San Juan Islands of Washington State with her husband and several naughty cats. For more information, visit www.hawkerbooks.com.

Reviews for One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow

[Teesha Fogelsanger · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was so so long. Thank God I listened to it and didn’t read it. I was able to listen and work mindlessly. The author is extremely descriptive to a fault. The story was good but there was no action or really any plot.

[John Fougner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The sensory images and poetic language breath life into a story of the daily ordinary people on the prairie - and their joys and sadness, hopes and fears.

[BKP Google · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not my usual read, but I really enjoyed this book. The bonding of the characters in their unusual circumstances was heart-lifting.

[Elisa gagnon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my new favorite book and my new favorite author! I loved the story and I loved the words. I listened to it on Scribed but have ordered a copy so I can reread it and highlight the parts I want to savor.

[MyFirstName MyLastName · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First the book employs "magical realism". This oxy moron means something like adding a little touch of fairy tale to it what is otherwise a realistic story with realistic characters and believable dilemmas. I find that incredibly annoying because it's such an easy out for whatever in real life is actually pretty complicated. In many ways the characters are completely undeveloped. In other ways there's a little more depth but still they don't feel like real people. Some of their feelings thoughts and behaviors are very believable and at other times they make big leaps in their thinking or changes in behavior that aren't fully explained. The central character, the pubescent girl Beulah, is something of a cliche. She's a girl born with that Second Sight, that spiritually all-knowing, mind reading future predicting an animal, Charming girl who would have been hung as a witch in a different time and place. Here she has no fears, conflicts, insecurities, doubts. She is just serene and knows exactly what other people are thinking and what they need better than they do and she can even predict their future. But because this is magical realism all of this is presented as utterly believable and understandable, needing no explanation. The author apparently has a little bit of an obsession with death and the cycle of life and seems to be working out her thoughts and feelings about this and trying to come to a place of peace. So Beulah instructs the reader repeatedly throughout the story by engaging in lengthy ruminations contemplations and reveries about the cycle of life. She repeatedly tells us that in order for life to go on death must occur and everything gets recycled and peace and happiness require accepting and embracing that knowledge. She lectures a dead person at his grave regularly about how he needs to let go and allow himself to decompose and disintegrate and be recycled. She tells him and us that that is a beautiful thing that we should look forward to and rejoice about. She's so comfy with life and death that she's able to charm a chicken into relaxing just before she snaps his neck in preparation for chicken dinner. When her boyfriend finds a difficult to butcher the older Lambs as they do every year, she is utterly nonplussed and relaxed about it although she's never worked on a farm. She tells him she can choose the Lambs who will die because he finds it too painful and difficult having raised the Lambs himself. So she strolls dreamly through the flock tapping some on the head to select them and noting to herself that some of them seem to drift toward her volunteering themselves and demonstrating peaceful acceptance of their fate while those who run away are clearly not ready and so she doesn't pursue them. In other words the chicken was okay with its death and the cheaper practically volunteering. And since she knows that she's utterly comfortable with killing those Lambs. On the other hand when a deformed lamb is born with two heads and is unable to nurse, and the mother ewe is balling in confusion and distress because it is unable to nurse and won't stand, Beulah considers it important to let the little creature die a natural death however long that takes. We mustn't deprive it of the experience of life however meager and pitiful that experience might be and how much distress it might cause the mother sheep. There's even a sequence in which the dead lamb is offered up to the sky, showing at the stars and the mountain range and everything else that it's not going to experience and declaring that it's experiencing all of that in one sweeping moment simply because they would like it to experience that and they're essentially providing it spiritually. So the poor little lamb dies gradually of dehydration hidden away in the barn because Beulah has become Clyde's spiritual teacher and tells him that it needs to be let to die naturally rather than put out of its misery. Beulah is only 13 at the beginning of the story and just now pubescent and Clyde is 16, but he has already begun to defer to her in any spiritual or emotional matter. There is a scene in the book in which Clyde loses his temper and kills a wild animal in a fit of rage. That just seen is one of the longest in the books and it goes into lavish detail about the actual dying throws and suffering of the animal a nearly obsessive way and then of course Beulah steps into give spiritual teaching and some of it is just almost saccharin and creepy as she instructs Clyde to feel the fur of the animal he killed so he can feel the regret and shame that he's supposed to feel but would otherwise avoid. And this If This Were a moment in a serious novel about a turning point for someone who really was developing into a sociopath and it could be made believable that might be riveting. But in this case it's just creepy and unrealistic and and like this sequence with the lamb just goes too far. With the lamb it was unrealistic and repugnant. With the second animal it becomes another lesson for the reader that goes on and on and on. Reader's complain that there's not a lot of plot. I think that this is almost like a one-act play in that nearly everything occurs on this piece of land and between these two women and their children. A lot of opportunity for complexity and depth of character is lost because we have Beulah solving all of the problems for everyone essentially. People who are weak become strong. People who are wishing for something they can't have suddenly want what they do have. People who are craving something more are suddenly satisfied with what life is already given them. People who have suffered intimate partner violence and have become isolated, bitter, and emotionally restricted seemingly recover from that when they're loneliness is partially relieved. And while Neti May blames Cora for making her a widow, we learned that Nettie May was physically abused by her husband. Why is there no discussion at all of the relief she must feel, even if her feelings are mixed.? And if she becomes close to Cora why does she not share that? although she doesn't excuse Cora despite forgiving her why would she not want Cora to know that? The ending is pretty much as expected from the beginning as far as the relationship between Clyde and Beulah and Cora and Nettie May. But it certainly could have been more interesting if it had been more realistic with more real life complexity. For example Cora feel she made a huge mistake in marrying the simple man who took her to the Prairie with its hardships... isolation, dangers, hard work and the unforgiving winters. She wanted to stay in St Louis and try to become part of high society. In the end instead of suddenly becoming content with the life she had despised just months before she might have gone on to St Louis, not followed by Ernest when he leaves jail. In that case if he returned to the farm he might have fallen in love with and married Nettie May. He is much more suited to her personality, her goals, and the lifestyle she willingly chose. That would have been the interesting twist of fate that would have left Nettie May with a better husband and Ernest with a wife who wanted to be on the Prairie, running a ranch with her husband. Beulah and Clyde would still get married and they would move into the home previously occupied by Cora, Ernest and their children. Then Ernest and Nettie may could grandparent Beulah and Clyde's children instead of Nanny May becoming simply a widow whose life revolves around her grandchildren. If Cora went off to St Louis she might have joined high society and been happy or she might have been bitterly disappointed or somewhere in between. Since real life doesn't involve Magic and ending without the convenient magical realism of this one might have had more interesting twists. Regardless we don't get to find out what happens when Ernest comes home and we're not there when Clyde and Beulah someday tie the knot. The story does take some big temporal leaps so that whole seasons are skipped but the few action scenes are so drawn out that there's no suspense and you're just glad to have the scene over because you know how it's going to work out. Meanwhile those lengthy reveries ruminations and contemplations occur way too often and the same ideas are expressed repeatedly in slightly different ways. What are clearly the authors believes about the cycle of life and what death means or should mean for people and animals is hammered home a little too thoroughly and repetitively. I as a reader felt as though I were being instructed as Beulah supposedly knows everything and is just waiting for the unenlightened around her to learn what she was born knowing. I didn't care much for Beulah by the end of the book because she was so one-dimensional. All of that said I will say that some of the writing is very appealing and some of the descriptions very well written. The book has a lot about it that is appealing but the pacing the depth of characterization the lack of real life complexity, and most of all that unforwarned big dollop of magical realism make this three stars and not four. The reader did a good job because it was so unobtrusive that at times I forgot I was listening to a reader rather than reading it myself or watching the scene with the dialogue.

[Kathryn Arnold · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm echoing what other reviews have stated: beautiful & poetic.

[Janann Kaufman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A delight to know. Language and history enhance a good story. Give us more like “One for the Blackbird…”.

[Rob Keech · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The narrator was amazing, what a beautiful story of loss, hope and love.

[kate clark · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful, poetry-like writing style. Captivating in its love of nature and life.

[Christy Medsker · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The end needed a little tweaking in my opinion. ?

[Erin Whittington · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Narrator was top-notch. The novel itself....the premise was an interesting one, and although the author's writing is descriptive, it somewhat bogs down the pace of the story. I didn't NOT like it, but it could have moved a little faster and not lost anything.

[syb adcock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

superb character evolvement and the author’s knowledge and passion for mother nature !! thank u.

[Carolyn Camp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written and insightful. I loved this novel from beginning to end.

[linda spence · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Started with promise of a good plot. Loved the descriptions of nature, and the initial laying out if characters but endless reiteration of Nettie May and Cora’s (cliched names!) bitterness and victimhood had me skipping chapters to get to the happy ending. Good narration though.

[auntieg0412 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. Yes, I'm a little biased because it's historical fiction and coming-of-age, two of my favorite genres, but that's not the only thing that made it so wonderful to me. The language is beautifully evocative. I usually read pretty fast but this one I savored for almost a week. No skimming happened here! The emotions are deep, too. I was moved to some pretty heavy tears on two occasions, which doesn't happen often any more. And the title! I'm such a sucker for a good title :)

The story gently points out how everything -- man, creature, plant, insect -- is part of the grand whole that is our world. It explores effects of anger and hate on a person's soul, as well as the joy and release that comes from forgiveness. It's worth reading if only for that particular theme, because I'm pretty sure we all need to let go and forgive at least one person in our lives.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This beautifully crafted novel may be considered by some to be slow-moving, but the writing completely carried me along, with lovely descriptions of the plains setting and hardships of rural living in the mid-nineteenth century. The plot involves the only two families for 20 miles, who have coexisted without real connection until a life altering event changes the relationship between them forever. The characters are complex and not always likeable as they contend with each other and their pasts while staing alive in spite of the elements.

[milehighlibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a hit with everyone in my book group. Fans of American historical fiction will enjoy this novel for the lyrical writing, character development and themes of grief, survival, forgiveness and resilience. And a touch of the surpernatural.

[bereanna · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great story. I kept reading without tiring. A little overly poetic, but the orator is described vividly. One can hear the birds and see the grasses waving. Two women who hate each other must spend the winter together in one’s canon to Siri be.

[patrusca-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

when I started reading I wasn't sure I was going to like the book and ended up loving the book.

[lyndainoregon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This may be the best book of the year – it’s certainly the best to date. Rich and lyrical, it tells the story of two families living near one another on the open Wyoming prairie in 1876; neighbors thrown together by betrayal and tragedy that leave both families fatherless. The two women, faced with the impossibility of maintaining themselves through the coming winter, reluctantly form one household, resentful and riven by their respective losses. And adding to the conflict is the undeniable growing attraction between the eldest daughter of one family and the only son of the other.Hawker has set up a wonderful web here of love and conflict, and has placed her characters in the isolation of an uncaring, primitive landscape that demands cooperation for survival. Her characters are rich and believable. Cora, whose weakness set the entire tragedy in motion, seems too soft and unmotivated to fare well in a homesteading life. She wants nothing more than to take her children and return to the city of her childhood. Her daughter Beulah is a fey child on the brink of womanhood, whose deep connection to the land frightens and repels the adults around her, even as it holds the key to their survival. Nettie Mae, bitter and broken, resentful of the burden thrust upon her and terrified that she will lose her only surviving child, is yet a strong and determined woman with any trace of weakness beaten out of her by a brutal husband. And Clyde, whose journey into manhood must thread the narrow path between the harshness of his father and the open-heartedness of his own nature in a land where softness can be fatal.There are echoes of Barbara Kingsolver here in the rich, interconnected tapestry of life, and in the tug-of-war between Cora and Nettie Mae, each struggling in the only way their natures will allow. As these characters play out their drama against the harshness of the land and the endless, backbreaking toil, bounteous life and renewal also surround them, if they will but see it.Hawker’s eye for detail and her finely crafted prose bring each character to life as they take turns unspinning the tale. The richness of the writing and the level of detail plunge the reader into the story with all senses involved.Settle in for a long, luxurious read with these characters. You won’t soon forget them.

[clue_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the 1870s in Wyoming Territory two families lived a large pasture apart. They were friendly but not friends though no other people lived within twenty miles. Nettie Mae and Substance Webber had a 15 year old son. Cora and Earnest Bemis had three small children and a daughter 13, Beulah. When Earnest was out looking for a missing calf late one summer he was stunned to find his wife and Substance in a compromising position. Beulah: I was leading the cows to the milking shed when my pa shot Mr. Webber. With Substance dead, and Earnest serving a prison sentence, the women are faced with preparing for and getting through the upcoming long and brutal winter. Not only does Cora know very little about farming, she has no money to hire help even if she could find it. Hawker lets each character tell their own story in alternate chapters. While I don't always like this method it works very well here with each character having a unique voice and perspective. Beulah would be a particularly difficult character to write, she is a strange girl, knowing the future before it comes and loving all natural creatures regardless of the harm they might bring, but in Hawker's hands she is believable. In the author's notes she tells us the story is loosely based on family history.

[bookscookslooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book that grabbed me from the the very first paragraph. It starts with a murder when one man goes down to the river and finds his wife with his neighbor. This leaves the two families living out on the Wyoming frontier without their men as winter is coming. The families are forced to come together to survive despite the dislike between them. Their farms are far from any other neighbors and without each other neither will make it.The book is told in alternating character voices – each one unique in its way. Ms. Hawker has a magical way of writing so that the reader feels immersed in the story. Living on the frontier in 19th century Wyoming was not for the faint of heart and you get a real sense of that as these two families strive to work together just to survive without their men.Once I started reading I just kept going. It’s not an easy book to read by any means. The story is one of loneliness, heartbreak, love, redemption and finding solace where you really don’t expect it. A truly engrossing read.

[kimkimkim-7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometime the beauty is not about the story, but how the story is told. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow isn’t an extraordinary story, it is a fairly simple piece of logic, but the writing, the unfolding that comes within each page is mesmerizing and glorious. Weighing in at around five hundred pages, I was hesitant and concerned that so many words would become cumbersome, weighty and maybe just boring. This was a great lesson to never prejudge – I happily lingered and lost myself in the artistry of Hawker’s composition. Her prose is equal to her skill and command of her people and their circumstances. She knows how to insert minor characters who move the story along without ever distracting from the flow. Her major characters are an imperfect group who wriggle into your conscious and make you feel the hardship, the hurt, rejection, fear and love. The description of life on the Wyoming prairie in 1870 depicts farm life as astonishingly difficult but also with equal parts of beauty and wonder.A very special piece of writing. So many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy.

[tamidale · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The premise of this story captured my interest. Two women, Cora and Nettie Mae, are forced to live together in order to survive the harsh winter in 1870’s Wyoming. It’s a horrible situation for them. Cora’s husband caught her in a compromising position with Nettie Mae’s husband and shot him. Now he is in jail and Nettie Mae is a widow.Cora is full of remorse and will do anything to earn Nettie Mae’s forgiveness. Nettie Mae is bitter and past hurts have caused her to put a wall around her heart. Throughout the cold winter, nothing seems to soften Nettie Mae’s anger towards Cora. Clyde, Nettie Mae’s only son, is keeping the two farms running with the help of Cora’s oldest daughter, Beulah. Beulah has a special gift for knowing things about nature, animals and those around her. A sixth sense seems to guide her and this gift she has unnerves Nettie Mae. During this year of strife, some hardships occur that cause the women to have to come together for the sake of their children and gradually they begin to make their peace. As they get to know each other better, they come to understand one another and a friendship begins to grow.The writing is beautiful and full of detail about the countryside, nature and the atmosphere where the story takes place. This is very much a character driven story, with the views of Cora, Beulah, Nettie Mae and Clyde being presented.Two things stood out for me as I read. One was Nettie Mae. I had an aunt by the same name and every time I read Nettie Mae’s part, I couldn’t help but picture her as my aunt. The second item that stood out was the story about the birth of the lamb. A very similar thing happened on my uncle’s dairy farm when a calf was born. This one had a head at each end. We took a picture of that calf to show and tell at school so many times that at some point the picture disappeared.I thought this was a beautiful story and am happy to recommend to other readers who have a love for historical fiction, the outdoors and the theme of forgiveness.Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

[susan0316 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel takes place in Wyoming in 1870. There are few settlers and the Bemis and Weber families are neighbors - within walking distance - but their closest neighbors are 20 miles away. It's a long way to a small town and the families have to rely on themselves during the long days and the longer winters. The author's writing is so descriptive that I felt like I was with these families on the prairie with no one around for miles, working non- stop but being totally in touch with the land and the environment around them.As the novel begins, Ernest Bemis finds his wife Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor. Ernest doesn't think twice but shoots and kills his neighbor. He goes to prison for 2 years and that means that these two families have lost their men and have created a strong dislike of each other. The main day to day work on the farms fall to Beulah Bemis, age 13, and Clyde Weber, age 16. They both realize that for the two families to survive the winter, they need to work together but Cora Bemis is too ashamed and Nettie Mae is too angry and bitter to even consider it. Though Beulah is a hard worker and knows what needs to be done for the family to survive, she's a bit dreamy and magical. Clyde on the other hand has been raised by a cruel father and has to learn to be a man without his father's guidance, which may be a good thing because he doesn't want to become a man like his father. Once Cora and Nettie Mae realize that neither family can survive the winter alone, Cora and her family - Beulah and 3 younger children move into Nettie's Mae's home. There is no friendship between the two women but as the winter goes on, they start to learn to trust each other. But along with trust, will Nettie Mae be able to forgive Cora and will Cora be able to forgive herself so that they can work together to help their families survive the long winter?This a beautifully written novel about love, friendship and survival of the harsh land that will stay in your mind long after you turn the last page. I found myself reading this book very slowly so that I could savor the lyrical writing and beautiful descriptions of the landscapes.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.