The Last Runaway - by Tracy Chevalier (Paperback)

About the Book

Forced to leave England and struggling with illness in the wake of a family tragedy, Quaker Honor Bright is forced to rely on strangers in the harsh landscape of 1850 Ohio and is compelled to join the Underground Railroad network to help runaway slaves escape to freedom.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"A rich, well-researched novel--it's the story of one young woman becoming an American."
--NPR, All Things Considered

"Well-told and engrossing . . . With compelling characters and swift pacing, ¬The Last Runaway adds a worthy new chapter to a story that has consumed generations."
--USA Today

"Irresistible." --O, The Oprah Magazine

"Chevalier admirably weaves historical figures and actual events into a compelling narrative."
--San Francisco Chronicle (on Remarkable Creatures)

"Evokes entire landscapes...a master of voices."
--New York Times Book Review (on Falling Angels)

"Chevalier's signature talent lies in bringing alive the ordinary day-to-dayness of the past...lovingly evoked."
--Elle (on Burning Bright)

"Absorbing...[Chevalier] creates a world reminiscent of a Vermeer interior: suspended in a particular moment, it transcends its time and place."
--The New Yorker (on Girl With a Pearl Earring)

"Chevalier's ringing prose is as radiantly efficient as well-tended silver."
--Entertainment Weekly (on Falling Angels).

About the Author

Tracy Chevalier was born and raised in Washington, D.C. She lives in London with her husband and son.