Olive MacLeod is already considered to be a bit strange. At thirty years old,, and as an aristocratic Scottish redhead, she's already far from the rest of society. When her fiance disappears in Africa, she doesn't just stay at home and pine for him; she travels to Africa herself to find him.

Olive the Lionheart is an interesting take on a biography. Based on journals written by Olive herself, and the history of her life, this biography is written more as a short novel following Olive as she encounters chiefs, a cult, lions, cobras, and swamps.

There is definitely an air of colonialism about this book that is a bit hard to step over. The story is exciting and quite an adventure.

This is the first book I have read by Brad Wicca and thoroughly enjoyed. He did a great job making a non fiction novel to read like a historical fiction story. Mr. Wicca uses the diary of Olive MacLeod to weave this story into an adventurous, colorful, sorrowful, and hopeful journey through Africa in the early 1900's. Highly recommend.

This true story tells about the adventures of Olive MacLeod, a thirty year old Scottish woman who decides to go to Africa to find her fiance who has been reported missing. Olive handles all the difficulties and invisible dangers that she has to deal with in her quest in 1910 Africa. She was so bold and courageous with her encounters that it makes the reader proud to hear of such a woman in that time of history. This is definitely a four star read for anyone with an adventurous soul!

The adventure I needed during this time where I can’t go anywhere exciting! This book is perfect escapism and highlights history’s forgotten women: the explorers and adventurers who didn’t let social expectations hold them back.

I’m not someone who enjoys this type of books in general, but this one was the exception to the rule. Knowing women that did amazing things through history, but who went unnoticed because of patriarchy, is what I enjoy.
The beginning was a bit slow, and made me almost give up on it, but then it surprisingly picked up and I was into it.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book

Africa of the 1910’s comes to life in Brad Ricca’s newest book, Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies and One Woman’s Journey to the Heart of Africa. Ricca takes Olive MacLeod’s diaries and papers as well as his own research and weaves them into a captivating narrative.
Written almost entirely from Olive’s point of view it is easy to forget you are reading non-fiction. In 1909, Olive MacLeod meets and falls in love with a British explorer who then leaves for his second trip to map central Africa (“from Cameroon to Cairo”). He does not return. Defying conventions of the era, Olive sets out on a trip to Africa to discover what happened to him.

The author refers to Olive taking photographs several times. Unfortunately none are included in the e-galley edition reviewed here. For this reason it is a good title to read in hard copy, assuming photos and maps will be included with the final version.

One unfortunate convention of the time that the author retains is the frequent and consistent reference to the hired African servants as “boys”. It is perhaps meant to draw the reader into the time period, but as a modern reader this hits a nerve that does just the opposite.

I'm always partial to the stories of forgotten women from history, and Olive doesn't disappoint. This story was so rich and beautifully told, it made a perfect escapist read during these crazy times, I can't wait to share it.

4 1/2 stars! After a bit of a slow start, this turned out to be quite an exciting page turner for me.

“Olive the Lionhearted” is the story of Olive MacLeod, and her journey across Africa after the death of her fiancé in 1910. The author ran across Olive’s diaries and papers while touring her ancestral home in Scotland and decided after hearing about her, he had to write her story. And what a story! How have I never heard of Olive! Evidently she was quite famous in her day, and was the first European woman to trek across parts of Africa. Her diaries and contributions to the British museum, which are still part of their collection, made great strides in our understanding of the African continent and its many peoples and cultures, but those were more on the academic side, while this work is based off of her diaries and includes her letters to Boyd Alexander that she continued to write after his death during her track across Africa.

At almost the half way point, I started seeing this as an epic film like “Out of Africa”. This is Africa before WWI when much of the continent was unexplored and unmapped. I knew nothing of the history besides the fact that Britain, France and Germany were trying to grab as much territory as they could, but this story gives you insight into the local tribes and customs as Olive recorded them. Her insights as a European woman with no ulterior motive, political or defensive, are so natural and inspiring.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this novel.

I loved loved loved this book. A gripping true story that grabbed me from the first page and never let go!

In a word: No.

I was really excited about this book. The description gave me a sort of Out of Africa meets the Queen of the Desert vibe. Unfortunately for me, Ricca's execution hit the same flat notes as the latter of these two films.

The relationship between Olive and Boyd is the mechanism that sets this story in motion, but it is so underdeveloped that I couldn't rationalize Olive's movements. This created a sense of disconnect in the fabric of the narrative, something I noted on several occasions. The lack of attention paid the fictional continuity grated my nerves and severely hindered my enjoyment of the story.

Not for me and not something I can see myself recommending forward.

I was so excited to get this book, I seem to gravitate to books set in Colonial Africa. Olive is engaged to Boyd Alexander when he decides to make a trip to Africa and dies before they get married. Olive then decides that she must see where he died. Thus the adventure of Olive trekking across Africa begins. This was a true story and derived from Olive's diaries and letters. We travel with her to the heart of Africa and face each obstacle with her. I did feel that the book started slowly, and it did get better. However, it did continue to flow a little awkwardly. Hopefully these issues will be ironed out in the editing process as my copy was an unedited ARC from #NetGalley, in return for an honest review of #OlivetheLionheart.

Olive the Lionheart profiles the life of Olive McLeod, a young woman who goes off to Africa at the turn of the twentieth century to find a man she loves. This book, based on Olive's diaries and other primary sources, gives the reader an interesting glimpse of Africa during the time the continent was imperialized by European countries. It's also an interesting view of women's lives during that time.

This book would likely be best enjoyed by teens and maybe even pre-teens. The book is told from the perspective of a teen/young adult, and that sets the tone for the book. I found the book a bit juvenile for more mature readers. This book, however, would be a good vehicle for introducing the concept of European imperialism to young readers.

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so real that it sucked you in and made you feel a part of the story. You didn't want it to end!

An interesting true story of a woman daring to go to Africa to find out what happened to her lover. Maybe too much detail and at times the story line was disjointed.