I found the society Olive vastly different from the Olive we travel to Africa with. The society Olive seems unwilling to make decisions for herself and more flighty in nature. As we witness Africa through Olive's eyes she matures and grows into the larger than life woman who returned from her journey. Olive's journey and experiences through Africa were beautiful, tragic, and downright terrifying to read. The hardships overcome by the party on their journey were widely varied and any number of them could have spelled the end. I can only admire Olive for her perseverance, dedication, and scientific contributions while on her excursion.

As far as the rest of her adventuring party goes though - I found Mr. Talbot exactly as one would expect male explorers of that time. Willing to buy and/or shoot anything they deemed to be an important discovery. Mrs. Talbot was fairly flat as a person, however; she was levelheaded and loyal. The entitlement and the supposed superiority of white travelers, explorers, and governments as well as their exploitation and treatment of the native tribes and hired staff a little hard to swallow even if truthful. I am curious if the warning about the treatment of hired help Mr. Talbot received was because of Boyd. Judging from Olive's personal descriptions of their character I would have suspected Mr. Talbot to reprimand the hired help rather than Boyd as he is of the younger generation.

I feel like her relationship with Boyd was rather odd versus today's mindset - they weren't engaged and really didn't know much about each other at all. While I partially understand Olive's relationship with Boyd I don't know why she seemed to go off the deep end for it but I believe that the letters to him allowed her to work through her emotions. How relationships work have vastly changed since Olive's day and that is a contributing factor to the disconnect I felt with the "versions" of Olive. I was also very shocked as to who Olive actually ended up marrying - I would have never put them together.

I can only imagine the sheer amount of work that went into creating this book. The layout of Olive's story was slightly jarring - I would prefer to read it entirely in chronological order. The ultimate thing I tried to remember while reading through this book was that Olive was REAL; these were her real thoughts, adventures, mishaps, and internal musings on display for readers. I would like to thank everyone involved for unearthing the trailblazing treasure that was Olive MacLeod and I agree that her story should be told because it is quite the adventure. A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Olive the Lionheart as a digital ARC - all opinions are my own. I would highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy memoirs, biographies, Africa, strong female protagonists, and history.

Olive Macleod sounds like a fascinating woman. This book, with information drawn directly from primary sources, follows her journey through Africa to search for her lost husband. While her story is intriguing, I found the writing to be a bit cumbersome at times, unnecessarily wordy and adding in extra drama. It may be a case of just reading it at the wrong time for me, and I'll definitely revisit it again in the future!

I was provided a free copy of this book by Nettgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I'll start out with letting you know I lived in Africa for four years growing up (Zimbabwe and Ethiopia). So I love stories about Africa, and even enjoy hearing about the colonial days. So obviously when I saw this book available on NetGalley I jumped on it and was very excited to read it. I had never heard about Olive MacLeod. However, as you can see by my rating, this book was a big disappoint. I struggled through it, and only made myself finish because it is an ARC and I feel obligated to give it full review.
The writing style was off. Very simplistic. Trying to create more drama. I don't know if it was just my copy or the finalized version too, but from one paragraph to the next there were frequently huge jumps in topic/location/time that often made it confusing to follow. Literally at the zoo talking about a lion, period, next paragraph (no extra spacing) intently studying the Rosetta Stone at the British museum. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Olive sounded like an amazing woman, and it sounds like she was a pioneer in white womens' exploration and even being allowed in Africa, but she has written her own book based on her journals, so I'd probably read those if I wanted to know more about her. This fictionalized version probably did not do her justice.
It was published on Tuesday, so you can get a copy if you want, but I did not enjoy it. Although, people like different things, so...
#NetGalley #OliveTheLionheart

Olive is my kind of woman. The novel based on the life of a real woman send Olive a 30-year-old Scotswoman to Africa to find out what happened to her fiancé. Told mainly through the letrs and diaries of Olive and Boyd, her fiancé, Ricca has done an excellent job of using primary sources to bring an unknown person to readers today. Because of the extensive footnotes, I wish I had read a hard copy instead of a Kindle version

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book that truly drew me in from the cover. I saw it, saw a strong woman, saw Africa and it had me so intrigued I knew it was a book I wanted to read.

This is a fictionalized account of the story of Olive MacLeod. When he fiance goes missing she packs her bags and heads to Africa determined to figure out what happened. I mean a strong, independent woman. What's not to love? Especially being set in the 1900s when the expectation was that she stay home and take care of the household.

I enjoyed how her letters were incorporated. I feel like I would really be interested in reading her real letters and journal accounts of what is happening.

If you're interested in historical fiction, and stories that aren't generally the focus of a book then this is a book you could enjoy. Also if you want to be drawn in by a strong female. Read this.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So I was really excited to read this book as it was about a woman explorer in the early 1900's, in a time when women were expected to stay at home and raise families. Although this book is very well researched with information from several sources, the telling of the story comes off as a little awkward and random at times. The subject matter is very interesting but I found myself feeling somewhat bored and feeling like the story was dragging. The telling was underwhelming and seemed lacking in detail, especially for such an exotic location.
The information presented did have me interested in learning more about Boyd Alexander, Olive MacLeod and the history of the region they travelled.
Overall, I found this to just be an okay story.

Okay. So. I love the premise of this book and that's why I was initially drawn to it. But. I don't know. I think this is a great story but I was not a fan of this execution. I think the ~fictionalization of Olive was a mistake and I would've much rather just read her journal entries than having them rewritten. (So I guess I should've just picked up the book she actually wrote. Whoops.)

The writing in this book is a little strange and disjointed. It doesn't really flow and the way the story is told isn't super enthralling? The book tries to create ~tension and mystery where there really isn't any? And then disappoints when that tension or mystery isn't delivered. Honestly. I could've done without the little headings for each chapter because they were super misleading. I stopped reading them about halfway through.

But overall, it was the writing in this book that didn't really work for me? It was a lot of simple sentences (most of which started with Olive did this or Olive went here) that didn't really flow or make you want to keep reading. It was very distracting. When reading one single paragraph, every single sentence shouldn't start with "Olive"?? So this whole book felt more like a rough draft than the final product. Personally, I felt like it could use A LOT of editing.

This book also felt like it was a little too ~modern for the time period and setting? Olive is a Scottish woman who lived in England and traveled to Africa during the 1910s. Though if you hadn't told me all of those things upfront, I wouldn't have been able to tell by reading this. It all felt very modern and American. Which is honestly why I preferred her writings. They felt more appropriate for the time period and felt more like her. The rest of the book was rather impersonal and it made it harder to connect with Olive.

Plus, it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary information that didn't really need to be in this book. So I spent most of the book bored, forcing myself to continue. If this hadn't been an arc, I'm honestly not sure I would've even finished it.

So. I loved the story. I loved the idea behind this. I just don't really think this was the proper execution for it. My favorite parts of this were Olive's letters and her journal entries. The stuff that was actually written by Olive. So I think this story would've been better told by her than by someone else. And I also think her often mentioned photos should've been included. They would've greatly enhanced this story.

Overall, I don't know. I'm glad to know that Olive exists because she was fascinating. But at the end of the day, for reading about her for 340 pages, I don't really feel like I've learned much. Unfortunately, this didn't really capture my attention and was just something I wanted to be done with. So I think I would've been better off researching her in some other fashion.

Again. I think this is a great story idea. I just don't think this is the proper execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

First of all, this cover is AMAZING! It is the kind of cover that made me not even care what the book was about, I knew I wanted to read it. And I lucked out because what was under the cover was good too!

This is a non-fiction account of Olive MacLeod. In 1910, she found out that her fiancé had gone missing while in Africa. So…she packed her bags and went to find him. Olive MacLeod is the kind of woman I I would have liked to know. She was fiercely independent, wildly disregarding of the early 1900’s social restrictions, and extremely adventurous!

There were so many wonderful things about this story. I really enjoyed reading Olive’s letters, which were used throughout the book. I thought they provided really interesting first-hand accounts of Olive’s personality. I did not like how their placement fit into the actual book. It felt abrupt at times, pulling me from the story. They were excellent additions to the story, and I would not have wanted them removed, but I would have liked them to flow seamlessly into the pages.

I loved adventurous encounters with wildlife that Olive has on her journey. Every type of animal that you think lives in Africa seemed to have crossed paths with Olive. The descriptions of the landscape really drew me into the story.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting account of one woman’s journey through Africa. I liked getting to know Olive and learning about who she was. I think that the story could have been enhanced with some maps to show her route through Africa, and some better choices in the way the story unfolded. It was, however, an exciting book with so many interesting details and encounters!

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend Olive the Lionheart to readers that enjoy historical stories with strong female characters!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

My full review of this book will post to my blog on 8/10/20.

An amazing true story! Olive Macleod, a 30 year old Scottish woman of, shall we say, means, despairs when letters from her fiancé, the naturalist Boyd Alexander, stop. She decides to set out to Africa to find him. Nothing about that seems to daunt her. She travels with a more experienced couple, the Talbots, who don't figure particularly largely in this story which is told primarily through the letters and diaries of Olive and Boyd. Olive's belief- commitment- that she will find Boyd is tested mightily as she travels through all sorts of conditions and areas and meets an incredible array of people. It's next to impossible to synopsize the journey but know that those who enjoy adventure might like this one (it would also be a good YA book - and there are some teaching points that will be obvious to the adult reader). Ricca did an excellent job with pulling together the original sources and creating a portrait of a determined woman. It is extensively footnoted which aren't as accessible if read on kindle- this is one that would be better in hard copy. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I very much enjoyed it.

At age 30 in 1910, Olive takes a trip to Africa trying to find out what happened to her fiancé Boyd, who died while traveling there. She is accompanied by the Talbots, a couple who are experienced travelers and arrange things for her. This was quite an adventurous thing to do for a young single woman at that time. Based on a true story, drawing on letters and journals, Olive’s journey will change her life.

I did not finish this book. I barely made it to 20% before throwing up my hands in resignation.
I wanted to love this book. I really did. The idea of a woman in the early 1900's exploring Africa and doing things on her own is such a draw - I cannot even imagine doing that now, much less in the early 1900's, and I was so looking forward to reading about this amazing woman. And then I started the book. Sigh. I read about 20% and could not go on any longer. The story just skips around so much with very little completion - you are right in the middle of the story of Olive being at the Zoo with the poor children and then WHAM, right in the middle of the story, it switches to a supper party at her house and a bunch of people that I think we are supposed to know, but do not. It was like a huge chunk of the story was missing. It made the writing style hard to read - it was just so disjointed. Just when I thought I could settle into a section of it, it went from a letter entry to another random thought... and then a different style of writing then and I was confused and frustrated and then finally, I just gave up; it was really not a cohesive story and the rambling was just too much for me to try and finish.
I do hope that there is some more editing in this book before it is released. I know that I am greatly disappointed in not getting to read what sounded like an amazing story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, how I wanted to love this book. The cover is beautiful... and the idea of a woman in the early 1900's exploring Africa and doing things on her own. I read about 20% and could not go on any longer. The family history was great, but the writing style was hard to read. It could not quite keep my attention.... it went from a letter entry to another random thought... and then a different style of writing then. It did not seem cohesive and perhaps I would have enjoyed reading about Olive if written by someone else?

Thank you to netgalley and St Martins press for my honest review.

Olive MacLeod is a Scottish woman with an aristocratic background. She falls in love and considers herself engaged to a scientist that she meets before his year-long trip to study more about Africa. It's obviously not a spoiler here, but he never comes back. Devastated, Olive decides to make the trip to Africa herself as a trip in loving memory of him.

As a premise, "Olive the Lionheart" is a good book. I really disliked the point of view that the author used to narrate the story. The story is told as if we are watching Olive's life unfold while in Africa and before her trip to Africa. There are so many sentences that start with sentences like "Olive decides... Olive goes... Olive does this... Olive does that... Olive saw this! She saw that! " which I felt really detracted from the overall telling of the story. (Also, there is something about the excessive use of exclamation points in narration that makes the writing feel 'off'.)

I like that Olive's life story has been told, but I almost felt that I could get more out of it as a long, but precise news article. I wasn't personally interested or invested in much of Olive's trip. The history lessons and fights between natives were difficult to follow because the writing style made it feel very removed from Olive's story.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true story of Olive MacLeod's , journey to Africa to find out what had happened to her Fiance, who was killed while there on an expedition. She leaves England in 1910 at the age of 30, with a couple who were more experienced travelers and whom would be her companions along the way, a Mr and Mrs Talbot.
This was a very interesting story taken mainly from Olives diaries and letters, by both herself, and Boyd Alexander her fiance. the author made the story flow, without changing any of the details.
Wonderful adventures and encounters with the local tribes and animals that lived along the route that they took, trekking 3,700 miles in nine months to visit her fiance's grave and to find out what really happened to him.
The story gives us a feel for what was happening in Africa, during that time period, as they would go through, British, French and German territories.
The descriptions are wonderful and one gets a great feel of the different tribes and there customs.
Olive was truly a strong and fascinating person.
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book.

Thank you for the ARC. This was an interesting read. Felt that the book at times was a little bit too descriptive.. I did enjoy learning about Olive MacLeod and her plight to find out what happened to her fiance Boyd Alexander.

It’s amazing where one’s heart may lead…
Olive the Lionheart by Brad Ricca is a brilliant retelling of the forgotten story of Olive MacLeod, an amazing Scottish woman who undertook her own remarkable journey into the heart of Africa in the early 1900s in search of answers about the death of her fiance, renowned naturalist Boyd Alexander. From Olive’s diaries, that had been collecting dust on a shelf in the family’s ancestral home, Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye,

as well as from other factual sources: the personal diaries of Boyd and others, journals, a book of letters, photos and drawings, and other first-person accounts, Ricca has created a captivating and wonderfully revealing story.

Olive MacLeod’s expedition into the heart of Africa, during the tumultuous and dangerous beginning of the twentieth century, is groundbreaking and fascinating if only for the fact that women explorers during this time were extraordinarily rare. Knowing that Olive undertook such a difficult and arduous journey out of love is even more compelling. I love the fact that Olive the Lionheart is able to convey both the factual details and significance of this accomplishment with the emotional motivation that drove Olive to follow after Boyd, in a story that is interesting to read. So many details about life in Africa: the customs and beliefs of the native people, the attitudes of the Colonial governments, and Olive’s personality are peppered throughout the retelling of the her journey.

Ricca has produced a fabulous historical biography that is not only informative but a fascinating window into a truly remarkable and intriguing woman. Ricca’s use of Olive’s actually diary entries, the letters shared between her and Boyd, and the style of writing of that time to construct a narrative style biography, that unveils information through flashbacks and memories, is a wonderful way delve into the life of a person and the time in which they lived. Olive the Lionheart will not only capture your imagination and introduce you to an exceedingly remarkable woman, but will inspire you to be motivated by love in accomplishing great things.

Finding an engrossing nonfiction read can be tricky for me. I love getting sucked into a book, and nonfiction doesn’t necessarily do that. But Olive the Lionheart is one of those rare works of narrative nonfiction that makes you feel like you’re reading a novel.
In 1910, Olive MacLeod, a fair, redheaded woman from Scotland received word that her fiancé, Boyd Alexander, a famous naturalist, had gone missing. So she went to find him. This book tells her story of Olive, and her companions, the Talbots, and their adventures in Africa. And it was an adventure.
I enjoyed the narrative and reading about Olive’s fearlessness, coming home with a treasure trove of pictures and two lions. I then fell into the rabbit hole of images from this journey that I found after googling Olive. This is really an incredible adventure.

I enjoyed reading Olive the Lionheart my first by this -new to me- author.

While reading this entertaining , evocative novel, was transported in time and place , and found myself experiencing a vividly , beautifully descriptive adventure .

Re-read: Yes
Recommend: Yes

I just reviewed Olive the Lionheart by Brad Ricca. #NetGalley

Magnificent title! “Olive the Lionheart”!
That and the subtitle, “Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Africa” and you pretty much know all you need to know but this amazing book.
And none of that is hyperbole.
Olive was Scottish, of the proud and ancient Clan McLeod, possessors of the “fairy flag”. She lived at the turn of the twentieth century and was described by contemporaries as “a gentlewoman”. As we read of Olive’s incredible journey through Africa and get to know her, we see that she is strong, vibrant, feminine yet determined to be equal, and she has beautiful red hair.
Her adventure takes place during the Colonial Period in Africa. ManyEuropean explorers were keen on mapping Africa and learning of its mysteries and flora, fauna and native tribes. When Olive’s male friend and possible fiancée is murdered there, she joins with an English couple to explore the places he ventured to.
It’s 1910 and Olive must travel through desert, grasslands, and rivers by foot, horse, train, and canoe. Challenges are faced hourly- heat, unfriendly chiefs, wild animals, getting lost, but Olive and her group persevere and manage to have many stirring and memorable moments. She was the first white woman to do so.
This well-researched book is based on Olive’s letters and diaries. Many of her letters are presented and the writing style of 100 years ago is interesting, and a bit hard to comprehend. Her story is presented in a day-to-day format. Much of the story is slow, as if we are walking beside Olive, but as a whole, the book is fascinating with its details of the sights, sounds, people, animals, flowers and landmarks. Olive truly was a “lionheart”.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

I loved this book so much! I love who Olive was in such a hard time to be a woman. She was so brave, strong and amazing! Following her adventure was an adventure and so inspiring. Also, learning more about Africa was wonderful. I can’t wait to share this with my friends! I highly recommend this!
Just keep in mind this is a biography, so it reads slower like them, rather than a fiction. But it is totally worth the work of reading non-fiction!