The Bride's Farewell

June 15, 2009
Pell Ridley is the adventurous heroine in this serviceably told tale, the fourth novel for London-based Rosoff, who has written successfully for the YA market. On her wedding day, Pell leaves town on her faithful horse, Jack, grudgingly bringing along her mute younger brother, Bean. Pell shirks expectations and jilts her childhood beau, Birdie, with an oddly modern defiance of 1850s England convention. No matter that Birdie seems a nice enough man, unlike her abusive preacher father—Pell is stubborn in her desire to flee the domestic life in Nomansland that mires her mother in a sea of children and overwork. Pell arrives at the Salisbury horse fair and her adventures begin. She is separated from Bean and her horse but meets a poacher she dubs Dogman (he travels with a pack of dogs) and together they wander the countryside living on bread crusts and flickering hope. Pell's love and knowledge of horses factors largely in her fight for survival, but it's human love—romantic and familial—that drives plucky Pell and leads us to this simple but satisfying story's happy if unsurprising conclusion.

July 1, 2009
Two social outcasts find each other against a background of harsh social circumstances in a sorrowful tale from Carnegie Medal winner Rosoff (What I Was, 2008, etc.).

There's a flavor of Thomas Hardy to the British novelist's story of survival and suffering in mid-19th-century southern England. Rosoff, author of several books for children and young adults, plunges readers straight into the story of Pell Ridley, whose impoverished family is dominated by her alcoholic, violent father. Accompanied by her mute stepbrother Bean, both of them riding on her horse Jack, Pell is fleeing the prospect of a loveless marriage to the simple-hearted boy next door. She has a gift for horses and wants better for herself. At Salisbury Fair, a horse-buyer, assisted by a poacher, offers cash in exchange for Pell's advice, but in the process she loses Bean, Jack and the money. Nevertheless, alone and on the road, Pell remains indefatigable and fortunate. A gypsy named Esther and her family offer advice, sustenance and a dog. Eventually Pell finds the poacher, a man of few words, who becomes her lover. Later she learns her parents have been killed in a fire; she must rescue her sisters from the workhouse. There's a blissful period while Pell works as a groom, but she can't rest until she finds both Bean and Jack.

Fragmented and overloaded with coincidences, but emotionally engaging, treading the line between YA and adult fiction.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2009
Adult/High School-In rural 1850s England, a horse-mad young woman flees home on her wedding day. Fearful that her fiancé's promise of "a house full of children" will translate into a future of drudgery, Pell plans to visit the Salisbury Horse Fair. Her mute little brother insists on accompanying her, but when he and her horse disappear at the fairalong with the man for whom she's spent the day working and who still owes her moneyPell's vision of her future is drastically altered. The twists and turns along her new path bring her into contact with a wide variety of people, from the Gypsy family that helps her on her way to Dogman, to a taciturn poacher who becomes her savior. Rosoff's simple yet descriptive language paints a clear picture of a world both bleak and beautiful. Like the setting, the characters are many faceted. Nobody, including Pell, is entirely good or evil. Readers will appreciate her journey, both the external search for her brother and a place in the world for herself, and the internal pursuit of balance between familial responsibilities and personal satisfaction. Teens will relate to Pell's internal conflict and refusal to settle onto the path life seems intent to force upon her. Rosoff's first adult title is as finally crafted as her Printz Award-winning "How I Live Now" (Random, 2004)."Karen E. Brooks-Reese, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2009
In her first work of historical fiction, Rosoff, best known for young-adult novels that include the Printz Award winner How I Live Now (2005), offers another unusual, richly metaphorical story of a young survivor. In 1850s England, Pell has grown up in an impoverished, overcrowded house trying to buck traditional female roles. Determined to escape the soul-crushing toil that marriage and motherhood promise, she runs away on the dawn of her wedding. Accompanied by her dog, horse, and younger brother, she sets off for Salisbury Fair, where she hopes to find work using her uniquely innate way with horses. After a rapid, unexpected separation from each companion, Pell begins an intricate game of hide-and-seek, and the narrative loses some momentum as she journeys the English countryside in search of what shes lost. Once again, though, Rosoff creates a memorable cast of courageous, unconventional characters; and within a story confined to a small geographic area, she explores, with facility and heart, lifes largest questions about freedom and attachment, chance and design, and the bewildering power of love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)