I enjoyed this historical novel set in early 19th century western Pennsylvania and west of Detroit, MI. The details seemed well researched. But the author invested some characters with 21st century political correctness that felt anachronistic. There was also a depraved rape storyline that did not seem credible to me, given the characters involved. Nevertheless, I will read the sequel to find out what happens after a very abrupt ending. ( )

Historical fiction story of Olivia and Mourning who set off to Michigan from Pennsylvania. Olivia has decided to tend her Uncle's farm so that she can inherit it. She knows that she can't do it alone so she convinces Mourning Free to come to Michigan to help her. Mourning is an African-American orphan ho has survived his parents death first with as African-American family and then on how own doing jobs for the townspeople. He of course knows it's not a good idea to be going to the wilds of Michigan with a white girl but Olivia convinces him.

The story is mostly about Olivia. The girl is intelligent and has enough desperation to try this adventure. She must deal with a horrible ordeal and she and Mourning become closer and gain a respect for each other.

The one thing I didn't like was the very abrupt ending. I know this was a series but even so it made me feel like I was dumped back into reality. ( )

Olivia seems to expect an easier life than the world has to offer as Yael Politis’ novel, Olivia, Mourning, begins. She’s mourned her mother since early childhood. Now she mourns the loss of her own childhood. And soon the father she’s caring for might pass, leaving her to mourn him as well. But there are many different kinds of mourning in this novel, not least being a wonderful black child called Mourning who grew up in the same town as Olivia. Soon the naïve white girl is inviting her one-time friend to take risks well beyond his station, and a smoothly convincing depiction of guilt and innocence, slavery, freedom, and the abuse of freedoms ensues.

I enjoyed the well-researched details of this tale, from steam-boat segregation to farming implements and the way to roof a home. Naïve young girl grows convincingly to the cusp of bravery, and the reader is left to deduce true emotions through the guise of her powerfully mixed independence and need.

The story builds with the farm, until sudden disaster changes everything. Not for the overly squeamish or easily offended, this tale offers a thoroughly honest depiction of genuine darkness beneath supposed godliness, and invites the reader to see more than one kind of prison, just as the story depicted than one kind of mourning. But redemption, as complicated as pain, is always possible.

While this tale ends with so much more to be told, it does give a sense of completion, holding its secrets and leaving the reader to either collect the series or choose their own best image to finish it all. Whichever you choose, Olivia, Mourning, is a complex, convincing and convicting tale; highly recommended.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review. In the interests of honesty, I should admit there was one word used that threw me, feeling too modern, but how can I complain after reading such a beautiful and truly convincing book. ( )

When Olivia's father dies, she jumps at the chance to inherit 80 acres in Michigan. Determined to put in a crop, and earn the property, she convinces Mourning, a free black man, to join her. Without warning, she leaves behind her two brothers and ventures into the wilderness.

I thought the beginning of this book was a bit slow, but eventually it picked up the pace. The characters were realistic and I found myself rooting for Olivia. It was interesting to see the black/white dynamics and how Olivia and Mourning interacted. Overall, a good book. I will definitely have to pick up the sequel. ( )

The author, Yael Politis, gave me a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.

“Olivia Mourning” would more accurately be called Part one of the Series rather than Book One. This is not a novel that can be read as a stand alone as there are loose ends tied in the course of the book but more left hanging by the time we leave Olivia’s world. Readers who don’t have the second novel at hand will find this start to an epic saga unsatisfying and perhaps quite frustrating. Politis gives great care to creating characters with whom the reader becomes invested and puts them in untenable situations with a cliff-hanger that leaves the invested reader no choice but to keep reading. Despite it’s lengthy 408-page count, “Olivia Mourning” is a consistently engrossing read.

The fictional Fae’s Landing, Michigan is 40 miles from Detroit. There is a sense of familiarity to this reader and a feeling of an author writing a setting she has researched quite thoroughly. Mourning’s worry about wagon climbing snakes (relayed as a tongue in cheek teasing of Olivia) had me smiling and hoping that if Michigan were a reality for them, they would do well. “Olivia Mourning” is a very vivid novel with a strong feeling of authenticity and an engaging plot and characters.

There is something that I am not fond of in this novel. I must buy the next book in this series to find out what happens to Olivia, Mourning and the characters they meet along the way. That is not to say that I would recommend “Olivia Mourning” for everyone. My father would view it as a “historical soap” and when I broached reading it, he would not entertain the idea. He read James A. Michener’s family saga epics years ago and found them entertaining but consuming. He’s not willing to make that investment again at this time and expressed skepticism that he would enjoy something that sounds so “soapy.” I didn’t find this novel so much soapy as dramatic. Everything that happens, no matter how extreme, has a logical starting point. If you like historical sagas, pick up “Olivia Mourning” and give it a try. ( )