One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

 

Summary (from the publisher): Wyoming, 1870. 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.

Review: The Bemis and Webber families are neighbors on the frontier of Wyoming in 1870 and have always relied on each other for survival at times. Until the day that Ernest Bemis finds his wife Cora in the arms of his neighbors. In an impulsive moment of rage, he shoots his neighbor dead and then sets off to turn himself into. The two women are left behind with their children. In one fell swoop two households have been upended and left without two able bodied men to help them get through another harsh women. Despite their obvious differences, Cora and Nettie Mae, encouraged by their children Beulah and Clyde, reach a truce in order to see each other through the darkest of winters. 

There were many points of interest in this book: the tension between the two women, the budding romance between Clyde and Beulah, Cora's intriguing family history and connection to President Grant, Nettie Mae's history of losing multiple children, Beulah's supernatural connection to the natural world and the dead, and the stark need to survive in a harsh climate. It was an intriguing premise, and I liked the novel shifted between different perspectives to give a broader view. 

Despite such promise and many intriguing plot points, this novel dragged significantly for me. It seemed to never really go anywhere. Despite everything else that could have divided them, Nettie Mae's true argument with Cora is her dislike that her son Clyde is interested in Cora's daughter Beulah. And some of the most interesting plot points - Cora's family history and would her husband Ernest take her back - were never really explored or resolved. 

Stars: 3