The Last Runaway

By: Tracy Chevalier

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling 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.

©2013 Tracy Chevalier (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

Expected more from Chevalier

I've read several books by Tracy Chevalier and this is my least favorite. It is fairly shallow, given the fact that the subject matter could have lent itself to much more depth. Chevalier's previous books which factionalized artistic subjects were much more intriguing. There was an opportunity to do more with the quilt code, the historic relationship of the Amish to the Underground Railroad, and even the role of the women who put their lives and marriages on the line to help runaway slaves.

Perhaps the reason this book felt so shallow to me was the affected performance of Kate Reading. After a couple of chapters, I nearly gave up, but persevered, only to discover that the narrator never lost the affected tone and irritating habit of ending every sentence with an upward tilt to the voice like a question.

A Favorite

one of the best pieces of literature and reading that I know. have read and listened to it countless times.

Was not pleased with narrator

Even I can do an English accent. It bothered me that she did not even seem to try.

Good Book

This was a great book. Enjoyed the historical references. I could almost picture the quilts.

Loved this one

What a great book!!! Wonder new way to look at the people supporting runaways via the Underground Railroad.

unjustified perseverance got me through

I trusted the author's reputation on this purchase. That plus an interest in the workings of the underground railroad. I found it rather boring. I kept listening with one ear so to speak since much was uninteresting to me. There is a lot, really a lot, of quilt making discussions. Some of the reactions of the English girl to life in America in 1850 are interesting, like how rude rocking chairs may seem. Runaway slaves do not appear until the last 1/2 hour of part one. The treatment of the issue I found mildly interesting.

Nothing mind blowing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book was historically accurate, gave a very vivid look into early American life in the (now midwest) region of the US. The story was a little on the bland side. I have read some of Chevalier's other novels and this one was almost like an intro to a possibly more in depth and fleshed out novel.

The plot was very simple and the characters were pretty basic. It touched on the underground railroad but only towards the end and in a very basic, textbook, learned in high school manner. I was not wowed by the read and didn't really come across anything I didn't already know.

I personally think it focused too heavily on her being a Quaker, quilts and getting married than anything else. I understand these are important aspects of a woman's life at this time in history but if that is the plot then an entire fictional account is not necessary.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I guessed it before it happened, pretty predictable. A small twist but for the most part very clean cut and laid out as expected.

What about Kate Reading’s performance did you like?

She has a strong English accent (from an American point of view) but she did the old Southern accents, different English accents, men and women's voices and the basic slave/freed black men and women accents very well. I always enjoy when the reader makes an effort to give life to each character by giving them a voice and mannerism that reading a book to yourself is unable to do.

Did The Last Runaway inspire you to do anything?

Haha it inspired me to learn how to make frontier style fruit leather! I also would love to learn how to can and pickle some fruits and veggies this summer.

Any additional comments?

I like Chevalier's books noverl (esp. the Virgin Blue), they are calming and not too intense which is sometimes what I need to get through a hectic week!

More than entertaining

Would you consider the audio edition of The Last Runaway to be better than the print version?

The audio version is preferable to me only when I am unable to sit down and hold a book.

What did you like best about this story?

The information I gleaned about the Underground Railway as it pertained to the Early American Quakers & their counterparts in England

Which character – as performed by Kate Reading – was your favorite?

Honor!

Who was the most memorable character of The Last Runaway and why?

Honor's mother-in-law. She did not represent the supposedly non-judgemental, Christ like Quakers of that time.

Any additional comments?

I have Quaker Heritage on both sides of my family tree though my childhood paternal side did not know that. I have always appreciated the legacy I felt resulted in my own family's treatment of women in our small, rural community and in Friends churches throughout Mid-America where I grew up.
As a result, I found the author's research and representation of this time in Early American history quite solid.

Great Story, Disappointing Narrator

I was engaged by the story of Honor Bright, a young Quaker woman from England in the 1850s who hastily decided to accompany her sister who was traveling to the US to be married. We learn that Honor's engagement had been broken in a difficult way (in her faith).

This is not the type of book I would usually read - historical with a promise of romance, but I was intrigued by Honor and the unexpected troubles and difficult decisions she made after her sister died before reaching her fiancé.

Themes of personal faith, community, slavery, individuality drew me in, and I cared for a few of the characters and how they would find their place and peace among it all.

It may be that some would see Honor as a simple (in spirit and life) woman, but I believed she was a strong woman who was guided by her moral and spiritual beliefs, even when it set her apart from "the plain folk". I admired her tremendously and believed her to be stronger than most in the community did.

It was a pleasant, easy read, and I did find it thought provoking as I considered what I would do in her situation.

I was very disappointed in the narration though. It was quite inconsistent with the narrator not always using the same "voice" for the same characters. She also had a distracting habit of pausing in a peculiar pattern. It took about 3 hours for me to finally decide I'd keep listening because I was enjoying the story, and therefore I needed to try to just accept the narration as was.

Interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable

The question of self interest vs the greater good is always interesting. Being put inside the Quaker dilemma at the time of slavery and the underground railway gave a more intimate view to the issue.