This book had a lot of potential, but the pace really lost it for me. I found Olive to be kind of wishy-washy in the beginning with her feelings and decisions, but once she sets out for Africa she definitely had more of a spine. That sounded like quite a hard journey for an aristocrat. Regardless, the whole thing just kind of plodded along at a slow pace and even the exciting incidents didn't spark a lot of interest. The history and geography was interesting, but this was not the exciting journey that I expected. ( )

Because the author wants to be as authentic as possible, the story of Olive MacLeod reads a bit abstractly, disjointed. However it also makes it very real to the reader. Her letters are a part of the story.
Olive travels to Nigeria to visit her dead fiancée’s graveside and with unanswered questions on how he died and quietly hoping he may still be alive. She travels with a Mr and Mrs Talbot . Her adventures and their encounters with African tribes are vividly described . Sometimes from a modern perspective , I did not like how they treated natives ( the medicine man declined to have his picture taken but I took it anyways)or the killing of animals but I try to remember at what time this happened. The removal of so many artifacts from Africa by the British also bothers me but again, it was a different time.
So, a different and enlightening read. ( )

From the history, Olive Macleod sounds like a courageous, formidable woman. I love the premise of telling her story and the story of the lands she travelled. Yet, the telling of the story in Olive the Lionheart by Brad Ricca leaves me a bit baffled because it seems more focused on the emotional reason for Olive Macleod's journey rather than the journey itself. Nevertheless, I am glad to have discovered the history.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/03/olive-lionheart.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

I was totally on board with this book's premise but, almost from the beginning, it was a disappointment. Mostly due to the lame attempts at misdirection in an effort to create excitement in the narrative; the most egregious example being Olive's "disappearance" which was just her being in her tent. I suspect I would have enjoyed Olive MacLeod's book about her trip (which was titled Chiefs and Cities of Central Africa) much more than this awkward modern reimagining that tries to frame Olive as a lovesick puppy searching for her fiancee.

I received a free copy of this book for review from the publisher. ( )

I have always had a weakness for the travel tales of Victorian and Edwardian ladies, especially in Africa, and when I learned that Olive MacLeod's diaries had been tucked away on a shelf in Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye for a century, I was hooked. I spent one unforgettable week in the Laundry Cottage, and each morning when I opened the curtains, I looked across a finger of the loch to see Dunvegan Castle towering above me. I simply had to read Olive the Lionheart.

Olive kept a detailed record of her travels in Africa. Other than hoping to find Boyd Alexander alive, it was her intention to write a book about him. When it was time to return home, her focus had changed. The book was going to be about herself. And why not? Olive wasn't just on a rescue mission, she was an explorer, the first white person to find various locales like MacLeod Falls which is named for her.

Olive had to feel like Rapunzel for her long red hair fascinated the native tribes she encountered, and she was constantly asked to let down her hair so they could see it and marvel at it. She adopted two lion cubs that went with her on her travels, and for a time, she also had a young giraffe named Josephine who would attack anyone who raised a gun to shoot something. Finding Boyd Alexander's journals was revelatory for her, sometimes painfully so, and I think reading them was one reason why she changed her focus on the book she wanted to write.

Brad Ricca gives a fully-fleshed portrait of Olive MacLeod, one that is often humorous-- as when she meets a local African queen whom she doesn't think is ugly until the woman refuses to answer her questions-- and sometimes sad. This woman was suffering from grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts, yet she refused to give in, always forging ahead.

I'm glad I read Olive the Lionheart for Olive MacLeod stands shoulder to shoulder with the other intrepid Victorian and Edwardian ladies I've read about. However, I have a feeling that I'm one of the few people who did not care for the narrator of the book. I found her British and Scottish accents as well as some of her "voices" annoying, and it put me off listening to the book. I'm glad I didn't give up; otherwise, I would not have met this incredible woman. ( )