The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

 

Title: The Last Runaway

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Genre: Historical Fiction

Other Books I've Read by this Author: The Girl With the Pearl Earring

Synopsis: "Honor Bright is a modest English Quaker with a broken heart. Emigrating to Ohio with her sister in the hope of making a new life, she soon discovers that 19th-century America hard, precarious place to live. Its people are practical and unsentimental, its climate challenging. Even its quilts are different from those she makes. Moreover, it is divided by slavery, legal in southern states and opposed by many northerners.

One day a runaway slave appears in the farmyard of Honor’s new family, and she must decide what to do. Even Quakers - famed for championing human equality - may hesitate to break the laws of the land. Drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network of people helping runaways escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who demonstrate what defiance can achieve. Eventually, she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs." - Back Cover

My Thoughts

As an Ohioan myself, I was so intrigued to read about Honor Bright's immigration here in the 1850s. This novel brings together so many interesting topics, immigration from England to the US, the Quaker faith, Ohio homesteads in the Quaker community, the Underground Railroad and the role Oberlin played in it, and the Fugitive Slave Law. 

It is definitely a coming-of-age story for Honor but also highlights the difficulty in deciding between what is morally right vs what the law requires. The reader can understand why the Haymakers would follow the laws rather than their conscience and the teachings of their Quaker faith and also why Honor cannot ignore her principles. 

Reading about what life was like in Ohio in the 19th century is also super interesting especially when many of the cities mentioned still exist today. Oberlin still carries a reputation for being a progressive town but I didn't realize that it extended so far back into its history. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from this author.

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