Wednesday 20 March 2013

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier


Quaker Honor Bright sails to America with her sister Grace in the 1850s to escape the shame of being jilted.  After a tumultuous journey, Grace dies of yellow fever soon after arriving in the US and Honor is left to travel alone to the home of her almost brother in law, Adam Cox.  Everything is different in Ohio, from the sounds of the forest to the quilting techniques used by the women, and Honor struggles to find her place.  Life is harsh and unsentimental and Honor has only tenuous links to the community around her.  When she chances upon the underground railway, a system to help runaway slaves make it north to Canada, Honor has to decide whether she has the courage to stand up for her beliefs.

Reading a Chevalier novel is such a comfortable experience as you know before starting that the writing is going to be good and the story engaging.  And The Last Runaway was no exception; within the first few places I had sunk into the story and it swept me away easily.  Chevalier is very clever at immersing you in the historical setting and characters immediately - I didn't need much reading time or many pages to have a grasp of the main characters and this made the reading experience both easy and enjoyable.

I didn't know much about Quakers before reading The Last Runaway, although I knew they were heavily involved in anti-slavery movements.  Honor wrestles a lot with her conscience as she feels duty bound to fight the injustice of slavery but she is also bound by her promise as a Quaker not to lie.  There's also some interesting moments where Honor realises that it's one thing to have a belief, but quite another to put it into practise.  She believes in equality of the races but still has moments like this;

"She hesitated for a moment when she realised she would be putting her mouth where the Negro's had been.  But that thought was a mere flicker, and she lowered her mouth to the rock.  The water tasted wonderful."

This added honesty to the book and made it believable for the 1850s setting.  The two strands of the story concerning the runaway slaves and Honor running away from her past/future tied together well.  Honor as a main character was likeable with just enough fire in her to keep the story moving well.  Her indecision about what to do with her life was portrayed well and I liked the ambiguity in some of the secondary characters, such as the slave hunter Donovan.  The whole thing felt very believable.

On the whole, a solidly enjoyable book.  I didn't love it in the same way I loved Remarkable Creatures but I thoroughly enjoyed settling down with it each evening.

Source: From the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
First Published: 2013
Score: 4 out of 5

21 comments:

  1. Good review, Sam, you seem to have had a similar experience to me. Not my all time favourite Chevalier, that accolade goes to The Virgin Blue with Remarkable Creatures a close second!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Virgin Blue is my least favourite Chevalier so far, although I have liked them all.

      Delete
  2. I'm glad you liked it! I really enjoyed reading about Quaker living, and as you've said, I found it a very believable novel.

    I've never read Remarkable Creatures, although I'm tempted to find a copy now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoyed learning about the Quakers too. I think you would love Remarkable Creatures :)

      Delete
  3. Definitely going to check whether this book is available in the library. Thank you for this review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have never read anything by Chevalier. I am ashamed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you might like her - try Remarkable Creatures first.

      Delete
  5. I actually think Remarkable Creatures is my least favourite Chevalier. Though it seems I'm going against the tide a bit with that. But Chevalier is one of those authors that I will always read whatever she publishes and I am looking forward to this one. Glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I loved Remarkable Creatures so much partly because I spent a lot of my summer hols in Lyme Regis as a child. My leasy favourite is The Virgin Blue. Hope you enjoy The Last Runaway!

      Delete
  6. I've only read one of her novels... the Birth of Venus, maybe? I'm not actually sure that's the title of the book. Anyway. I know I've read something written by her and remember really enjoying it. I'll be honest and say that I haven't ever tried reading her again because I've been thrown off by some of the cheesy cover art that some of her novels flaunt. Note: I do like the one you featured above. I know it's so bad but you know what I'm saying, right?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I meant that it's so bad judging a book by its cover. Gosh.. I feel like I do that all the time on your page. UGH..

      Delete
    2. I do that with cheesy cover art too; I actually quite like Phillipa Gregory but feel ashamed to be seen with those covers!

      Delete
  7. Another book to put on my list ;) I'm a fan of Chevalier's books and this review definitely makes me want to read this one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chevalier's such a dependable author, I've not read a bad book by her.

      Delete
  8. Sounds like an interesting book. I haven't read anything by this author but I would like to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Her books are really solid historical fiction, well written. I'd start with Remarkable Creatures :)

      Delete
  9. I have an audio review copy of this one that I hope to listen to soon. I like reading about Quakers and have enjoyed a couple of her earlier novels - great review.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd never heard of the author but somehow it reminds me of a contemporary and lighter mix between Willa Cather and Margaret Atwood.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, I just finished reading this last night! I really liked it, but then I've liked everything Tracy Chevalier has ever written. I agree with you about Remarkable Creatures though - it's my favourite too.

    I just can't decide about the ending for this one. I mean, on one hand I was genuinely shocked and was all tense and I FELT THINGS, but on the other it didn't really make that much sense. Do you know what I mean? I'm trying to be all vague lol.

    ReplyDelete