Ask a Bookseller: 'One for the Blackbird and One for the Crow'

We're continuing our Women's History Month theme on "Ask a Bookseller." This week, Jessica Bohnsack of Sheridan Stationery Books and Gallery in Sheridan, Wyo., was happy to recommend a historical fiction novel set in her state: "One for the Blackbird and One for the Crow" by Olivia Hawker.Conditions are harsh on the plains of Wyoming in 1876, and the Bemis and Webber families couldn't be more isolated — 20 miles from town, and a mile apart from each other. Right off the bat, the stuff of soap operas happens. Mr. Bemis catches his wife in a compromising situation with Mr. Webber and kills him. Bemis then turns himself in and goes to jail. What's interesting is what happens next, for now the women and their adolescent children are left behind to run the farm, and winter is approaching. Despite anger and regret, they must rely on each other to survive.Bohnsack says she felt all the feelings in this novel as the narrative shifted seamlessly among the points of view of the various main characters.