The Last Runaway by Tracy Chavalier

  Cover and synopsis from Goodreads

New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring 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.

In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who 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, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor 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.

A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book.  It was a fast read that kept my attention throughout the book.  Honor became a stronger character as the story progresses.  She has a lot of decisions to make.  I also liked how the author portrayed the Quaker lifestyle.  I didn't know a lot about that lifestyle before I read this book.  Tracy did her research, that is for sure.  I highly recommend this book.  I read this book for the book club I recently joined, and I am glad that I did!

I obtained a copy of this book from my local library and was not asked to do a review on it.