Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher In exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!
I requested a copy of Under a Blackberry Moon for review mostly because it is set in Michigan. As much as I complain about being in Michigan, I really do love it here. When I first started reading this book, I had a major case of déjà vu. It was really quite funny because I have a bad habit of devouring books so quickly that I don’t remember them very well. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew this was a new release I could’ve sworn that I’ve already read it when I first started.
While this book is not part of a series or trilogy, it does feature some minor characters from another book of Serena B. Miller’s that I reviewed, The Measure of Kate Calloway (link goes to my review). Under a Blackberry Moon is a story of a widowed young Chippewa woman who stumbled into a lumber camp in Bay City after giving birth. Alone. She lived with them for a season and after getting into some trouble, decided to leave. The camp owners had grown to care for her and a former preacher & worker offered to escort her back to her people so that everyone knew she arrived safely.
On the way there, the steamship they were traveling on blew up and Moon Song became a Chippewa again. Her escort & another woman were the only survivors and she got them from being marooned on the Pictured Rocks back to civilization using all the skills she learned as a child. Along the way, Moon Song & her escort, Skypilot, find they love each other. Due to her checkered past & her people’s distrust of whites, she insists that he leaves.
I really enjoyed Under a Blackberry Moon. Miller did a fabulous job capturing the feel of the rugged & deadly beauty of the Great Lakes and the Upper Peninsula. I have visited nearly every place that the book takes place in and she did a fabulous job painting a picture of life there.
I also loved how she based her characters off of real people from history that she had read about, including modeling the priest after Bishop Baraga (the snowshoe priest). And she did a fabulous job of putting a twist into the dénouement of the book that I never would’ve imagined. Loved, loved, LOVED!
Needless to say I really REALLY enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who likes clean/Christian fiction, Michigan history, stories about Native American tribes, or just wants a really well-written love story.
