The Last Runaway
Tracy Chevalier
book reviews:
· general fiction
· chick lit/romance
· sci-fi/fantasy
· graphic novels
· nonfiction
· audio books

Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed

· author interviews
· children's books @
   curledupkids.com
· DVD reviews @
   curledupdvd.com

newsletter
win books
buy online
links

home

for authors
& publishers


for reviewers

click here to learn more




Buy *The Last Runaway* by Tracy Chevalieronline

The Last Runaway
Tracy Chevalier
Plume
Paperback
320 pages
October 2013
rated 4 of 5 possible stars

buy this book now or browse millions of other great products at amazon.com
previous reviewnext review

Click here to read reviewer Michael Leonard's take on The Last Runaway.

Chevalier sets her novel in 1850s Ohio, a critical link on the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping to freedom. Newcomer Honor Bright faces the reality of an issue argued in the abstract across the ocean in England. But what seems a simple accounting of a Quaker’s trials in America, a girl without close relatives forced to depend upon the family she is to be married into through her sister, Grace, contains as well a sense of the difficult lives shared by females in a world governed by men.

As a Quaker settling in a new country, Honor adapts to the habits of her new congregation, only belatedly understanding Ohio’s importance in the operation to move slaves across the Canadian border to freedom. Her situation is tenuous from the start. Her betrothed sister dies soon after their arrival in America, making Honor an awkward addition to a family comprised of her would-be brother-in-law and the newly widowed wife of his brother; the congregation disapproves of the unconventional living arrangements. It is imperative that Honor marry, although her prospective groom’s family—of more prosperous stock—worry that this newcomer is unsuitable. Certainly, she is not able to provide the usual dowry of quilts, hers left behind in quarantine after her sister’s illness.

The family should worry, though not for the problem of Honor’s lack of dowry. On the journey after disembarking from the ship, Honor has made the acquaintance of a milliner in a nearby village, Belle Mills. That Belle’s brother, Donovan, a slave hunter, takes a special and unwarranted interest in Honor disturbs her new family, especially when Donovan’s uncanny tracking skills bring him frequently into Honor’s vicinity. While with Belle, Honor notices some anomalies in her friend’s behavior, hears the subdued sounds of someone hiding in woodshed or barn, gradually sensing the presence of those fleeing to Canada from the oppression of slavery.

Given Honor’s character, it isn’t surprising that she should be drawn into complicity with Belle and others like her. The dangerous connections of the network are carefully guarded with the constant risk of exposure, not to mention Donovan’s watchful eye. While Honor cannot ever know the real terrors of slavery, her sympathies are readily engaged by those she helps along the way. Chevalier’s foray into American history is a simple story but is reinforced by her portrayal of the strength and courage of women living in such rugged conditions, bound together by community and the many ways they provide for the well-being of their families.

Quilting plays a substantial role in Honor’s story, almost a character, from the patterns she learned at her mother’s side in England to those of the New World, not to mention those stitched by black women, who create their own distinct patterns that tell their stories. In these patterns, history is told, the tiny scraps of cloth linking one generation to another. This is the language of a beloved folk art understood by those who spend quiet hours with their fingers flashing, providing comfort for their loved ones, linking their lives in that time and that place.



Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Luan Gaines, 2013

Also by Tracy Chevalier:

buy *The Last Runaway* online
click here for more info
Click here to learn more about this month's sponsor!


fiction · sf/f · comic books · nonfiction · audio
newsletter · free book contest · buy books online
review index · links · · authors & publishers
reviewers

site by ELBO Computing Resources, Inc.