Dear Carolyn,
I would like to request a posting
for a review of my novel, The Way the World Is (Book 2 of the Olivia
series). This is the third review I have submitted to your site. (The first two
were for Olivia, Mourning, Book 1 of this series).
Thank you very much for this
generous service,
Yael
Politis
politisyael@yahoo.com
Title: The Way the World Is
Series: Book
2 of the Olivia series
Author: Yael Politis
Author's website: http://yaelpolitis.wordpress.com
Genre: Historical Fiction (USA, 1840s)
ASIN:
B00H0H39JA
Text of the review:
The Way the World
Is - Book 2 of
the ‘Olivia’ series – continues the story of teen pioneer Olivia Killion, who –
in the first book of the series, Olivia, Mourning – inherited her
father’s land in Michigan and began farming it, together with a black helper who
became more than just her business partner.
As fans of Olivia, Mourning
will recall, Olivia is headstrong, feisty, and filled with all the confidence
and certainty of a seventeen-year-old who thinks she knows what she’s getting
into and what the world is all about. In fact nothing could be further from the
truth: while her assessment of the realities of black/white relations are spot
on and her caution is survival thinking at its best, Olivia simply lacks the
experience to make her way through the world without receiving some hard
lessons, and The Way the World Is follows this progress and
evolution.
Fans of Olivia, Mourning
will find this sequel no less engrossing, with its gritty protagonist who is
determined to forge her own unique path in life. Fans will also appreciate
Olivia’s new challenges, which open here with a bang: a pregnant Olivia is about
to give birth, with no idea whether her child will be white or
black.
It does turn out that the child is
Mourning’s baby – and with that comes a host of new tests – though Olivia is
actually thrilled that her baby comes from her gentle, kind friend and not from
the white monster who raped her.
As she contemplates her child’s
future Olivia must make decisions based on what is best for both of them – and
is forced to realize that in a prejudiced world there is no way that the
dark-skinned baby of an unmarried white girl will be accepted for anything but
what it is: “But there are dark-skinned white people that aren’t colored. Arabs.
What about Egyptians? Don’t they have dark skin?” “Maybe a dark-skinned Egyptian
ain’t exactly colored, but he sure ain’t white and ain’t gonna be asked to tea
in any parlors in Five Rocks. You can’t pass this baby. Not in this world. Don’t
even think about it. You’d only break your heart trying. And his.”
Olivia dreams that Mourning will
eventually come back and raise his son safely; but now it’s time for a new life
for them both. Olivia once again must rebuild her destiny and take charge,
making hard decisions and hoping they will benefit everyone.
Though she never abandons her
search for the loved ones who have vanished, her new life in Detroit comes with
friends and healing and offers an unexpected opportunity to do good by helping
fugitive slaves escape across the river. This is something she never would have
contemplated, were it not for her friendship and love for Mourning and their
child.
The Way the World
Is covers a
variety of themes: personal growth, change, destiny, responsibility and,
ultimately, the costs of love. As Olivia makes her way in life and chooses the
paths she takes from a smorgasbord of choices, she slowly realizes the
limitations of her worldviews: “She was glad she had when she entered the tidy
little town of Backwoods. Sturdy wooden sidewalks lined both sides of its Main
Street, shielding brightly painted houses and stores from the mud in the road.
The more she saw of the world, the more Olivia realized what a shabby little
town she had grown up in.”
And as Olivia grows into a person
determined to make a difference in the world, so readers come to appreciate not
just the atmosphere and special challenges of her times, but the motivations
behind her actions: “His wife is still down south. In slavery. He’s saving up
his money to go get her.” Michelle sucked her front teeth and then held Olivia’s
gaze and said, “I already know what you’re thinking. But you can’t buy all the
slaves in the south.” “I know I can’t. But there’s not a single reason I can’t
help buy this one.”
Thanks to her relationship with
Mourning, Olivia’s search for the way she wants to live expands to include
saving those pieces of the world she can touch and affect. And thanks to her
wider-ranging decisions, she finds her way to an unexpected life, filled with
genuine friendships and new possibilities.
In a way Olivia’s journey is the
route of many in life. She begins with courage and determination and a naïveté
about the world that is changed by encounters both positive and negative – but
she remains steadfast, determined, and strong-willed. When her world (and
preconceptions) fall apart, she rebuilds it to be stronger than ever – and with
new purpose.
Perhaps the most powerful passage
of all sums up in a nutshell what motivates Olivia to keep hope and
determination alive, even in the face of despair: “As long as we draw breath,
nothing in this life is final.”
Some
books stand alone and require no prior familiarity with others in their series …
but don’t miss Olivia, Mourning. It sets the stage for an ongoing saga
rich in detail, history, and perspective. Together, the two books offer a
powerful saga that makes for thoroughly engrossing, compelling historical
fiction at its best.
-----
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