Two families, neighbors out in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness, in the Bighorn Basin, 20 miles south of the nearest town of Paintrock, or anything else for that matter, are about to find out how hard it is to survive and the need to depend on each other through one of those long, harsh Wyoming winters.

Ernest Bemis shoots and kills his neighbor, Substance Webber, when he finds him having an affair with his wife down at the river and, as an honorable man, he turns himself in. His daughter, Beulah, only 13 years old, is forced to take charge of the household when her father is sent to prison for 2 years, and her mother can barely function because of the guilt of her actions.

Clyde Webber, 16, has to go and bury his father and has now become the man of his house. He is different from his father but struggles with withholding compassion towards the farm animals and becoming the rough, emotionless man his father wanted him to be.

Amazing read! The author has a unique way of wording things and a unique rhythm to her writing. I found it very spiritually rich and I loved, even needed, to hear her take on the value of all life and how it is so connected from one living thing to another, even unto death.

Beulah was just a bit of a psychic. She could talk and feel Clyde’s father’s spirit still hanging around the grave when she would bring small earthly gifts to him to try and ease his raging spirit. She saw beauty in things when others saw so briefly they could only see flat, or one color. Every seed was a wonder. Every creature deserved a fair chance at life. One for the black bird and one for the crow, refers to the extra seeds she and her father would plant so there were plenty of green food for all. The birds would come and eat the first growths and be gone by the time the second growth came up for the family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The author wove bits and pieces of her family history into this book. Her grandparents were Clyde and Beulah. Clyde owned a ranch in Wyoming when he was younger, but sold it when times started to change and bought an 18-wheeler and hauled for the rest of his life. Olivia, the author, resides in the San Juan Islands in Washington and micro-farms on a one-acre homestead. The lovely views on life and death portrayed in the book are her true beliefs on the subject. ( )

It is unusual for me to spend so much time with a book I enjoyed this much. Instead of devouring it, I wanted to dwell in it. To sit with and appreciate the characters. This is a truly beautiful story and I’m genuinely sad to close the cover on this one. ( )

It is 1870 and the Bemis and Webber families are settlers living in the shadow of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. The nearest town is 20 miles away and so have no one to rely upon but each other. Unfortunately, they become even more connected to each other through adultery and murder. As one husband is killed and the other is put in jail, the wives are left alone with the responsibility of their farms and their children.

While one wife feels extremely guilty, the other is overwhelmed by her bitterness and hatred, but life in this remote corner of Wyoming is harsh and winter is coming all too soon forcing the two women to band together to survive the winter. When they combine their households, 13 year old Beulah Bemis and 16 year old Clyde Weber are left to carry the bulk of the workload, even though Clyde’s mother does everything she can to keep the youngsters apart, living in fear of a romantic connection between the two.

Although there wasn’t a lot of plot to this story, it nevertheless held my attention mostly due to the authors’ very descriptive and poetic language. The story is relayed to us by four different characters so there is some overlap and repetition and I feel that the book could easily have been edited into a much shorter tale. One For the Blackbird, One for the Crow is a story of life, death, and redemption. The author does an excellent job of describing the beauty of nature, and the passing of the seasons. ( )

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 staying alive in spite of the elements. ( )

I wrote a review on Amazon. In short not the way I see the world yet fascinating nonetheless. One of those books where you believe you see something of the author's soul after you finish it. ( )