'The Last Runaway' by Tracy Chevalier is a historical fiction novel set in 1850s America, following the journey of Honor Bright, a young Quaker woman from England. The book explores themes of Quaker culture, the Underground Railroad, and Honor's struggles as she navigates a new life in Ohio after the death of her sister. The writing style captures the details of everyday life in rural Ohio, the complexities of human engagement, and the challenges Honor faces in upholding her principles in a changing society.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for The Last Runaway include themes of slavery, moral dilemmas surrounding aiding fugitives, and discussions on personal tragedy.
Has Romance?
The romance in the novel is prominent but not the primary focus, centering on Honor's complicated relationships.
From The Publisher:
New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring and At the Edge of the Orchard Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement.
Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker, moves to Ohio in 1850-only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape. Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.
However, Honor is drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, where she befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.
Ratings (3)
Loved It (1) | |
It Was OK (2) |
Reader Stats (5):
Read It (4) | |
Not Interested (1) |
1 comment(s)
I loved this book, but for two significant issues that I'll address at the end.
The Last Runaway is the story of Honor Bright, a Quaker Englishwoman who is really the first runaway of the book. Jilted by her fiance, Honor decides to join her sister Grace in America, where Grace will marry a Friend from their English community who has moved to Ohio and owns a dry goods store. But when Grace dies of yellow fever before reaching Ohio, and
her fiance's brother dies of consumption, Honor finds herself entering a household made up of Adam, Grace's fiance, and Abigail, Matthew's widow.
The Quakers stand for equality among all people, and Honor has always taken the Friends' official stance against slavery very seriously. However, in America, she finds herself inserted into the Underground Railroad; her part of Ohio is one of the last legs of the journey for runaway slaves. When the theory of equality meets the practice of going along to get along, Honor is torn. She does not understand why her Quaker community doesn't do more to help runaways. As she marries into an American family and struggles with her faith, Honor must decide where she stands: between her Quaker husband and the slave catcher she desires; between her English past, represented by her quilting, and her American future, represented by applique; and between the tenets of her faith and the realities of living in a country built on slavery.
Which brings me to my first problem with this book. At one point, Jack Haymaker, Honor's American husband, tells Honor that America is different from England because America's very foundations are interwoven with slavery. Um, exsqueeze me? The sun never sat on the British empire because there were slaves all over the world working for it. To imply that Britain did not traffick in human beings is an incredibly offensive historical fallacy.
Which brings me to my second problem. This is a book about the Underground Railroad, but it's really about a nice white lady and the ethical difficulties she faces because of the Underground Railroad. Honor is a fascinating character and her story is incredibly well told, but I find it a little off-putting that this important part of African American history is the backdrop for a white woman's coming of age.
Still, I loved the book and recommend it to fans of historical fiction.
What can you read after
The Last Runaway?
About the Author:
Tracy Chevalier is the New York Times bestselling author of nine previous novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has been translated into thirty-nine languages and made into an Oscar-nominated film. Born and raised in Washington, DC, she lives in…
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