One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow

A Novel

By: Olivia Hawker

Narrated by: Jackie Zebrowski

Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2019 Olivia Hawker (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Spellbinding

This book is preformed in perfect sync with the heart of the story. It can be listened to multiple times , and new revelations surface about the story and characters each time. Worth every minute of listening time!

Beautiful description

The writing and story are good. Very descriptive and makes you think about land and farmers in a new light.

like a time capsule

loved it. it was like a time capsule however some in some parts of this country practically still live in such sure straights only with cells and wifi. Jackie Z. was amazing as the narrator.

One for the blackbirds one for the crow

I encourage others to listen to this book. This author has amazing talents in bringing words to life

the commonplace is more than its parts

a really good story. down to earth with magic. interesting characters and relationships. I am picky, and I recommend this. learned stuff about the place and its people.

perfect pandemic listening!

Exciting and comforting. This story demonstrates that we do have control over outcomes but we must take it.

Lovely writing

This book was absolutely beautiful to listen to. The descriptions made me miss the prairie. Story is a little slow, just like life on the prairie, but if it had a faster pace it would have taken away from the emotions the author paints with words. I might read it again just for the language that pulls you in like you're rooted to the Prarie. Love it!

Beautiful

This was a beautiful story of forgiveness and working together. Beautiful descriptions of nature and how it speaks to a young girl who has a deep love for the land. I love stories set in this era! The narrator did a great job telling this story and I often got lost in the story.

Good but slooooooow.

It’s a good story and the narrator does a good job (except for Cora‘s voice which set my teeth on edge) but terrible been done on the weekend parts of the story just drone on and on. I found myself skipping five minutes here and there and not missing out on any of the story. The descriptions of the surroundings seemed to go on forever.

Beautifully written but also heavy and depressing

This book was beautifully written and expressive. It described life on the isolated prairie just as our forefathers experienced it. There was little joy unless you went looking for it. The story was one of necessity and survival of women and children alone. It was a very hard existence and the author explained it in an honest and beautiful. Even though it was also depressing and heavy, I’m glad I finished listening.