The Last Runaway

Facing a broken betrothal, Honor Bright, a young Quaker woman, leaves her home in England in 1850 and accompanies her sister to Ohio, where Grace is to be married. After an arduous journey Grace dies, and Honor arrives shaken and uncertain of her future. Kate Reading provides just the right sense of confusion and determination for Honor and, as always, perfect voices for each of the many well-drawn characters, including gruff milliner Belle; her brother, Donovan, a slave hunter; and the Quaker family of dairy farmers Honor eventually marries into. Honor is torn between loyalty to her husband and family and assisting runaway slaves. An emotionally wrenching tale of conflicting ethics, humanity, and early American pragmatism from Tracy Chevalier (GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING), superbly performed by Reading. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

December 10, 2012
Chevalier’s (Girl with a Pearl Earring) haunting seventh novel delves into the difference between a theory of belief and its practice. When young Quaker Honor Bright’s fiancé breaks off the relationship to marry outside the faith, Honor goes to America in 1850 with her sister, Grace. Grace is engaged to marry Adam Cox, a young man from their hometown who followed his brother to Faithwell, Ohio. Unfortunately, Grace dies en route, and Honor arrives in Ohio to find Adam sharing a house with Abigail, his sister-in-law, made a widow by the death of Adam’s brother. Honor moves into the house, but feels tense and unwelcome. In Belle Mills, a milliner who appreciates Honor’s sewing skills, Honor finds a friend and ally. Honor also draws the attention of Belle’s brother, Donovan, a slave hunter, and Jack Haymaker, a local farmer, a man “like a pulled muscle that Honor sensed every time she moved.” They marry and Honor, drawn by her sympathies into helping the Underground Railroad, is forced to choose between living her beliefs and merely speaking them. The birth of her own child raises the stakes, and she takes a unique stand in her untenable situation. Honor’s aching loneliness, overwhelming kindness, and stubborn convictions are beautifully rendered, as are the complexities of all the supporting characters and the vastness of the harsh landscape. Honor’s quiet determination provides a stark contrast to the roiling emotions of the slave issue, the abolitionist fight, and the often personal consequences. Chevalier’s thought-provoking, lyrical novel doesn’t allow any of her characters an easy way out. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider.