The Last Runaway

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: January 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

What They Say: The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring.

When modest Quaker Honor Bright sails from Bristol with her sister, she is fleeing heartache for a new life in America, far from home. But tragedy leaves her alone and vulnerable, torn between two worlds and dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Life in 1850s Ohio is precarious and unsentimental. The sun is too hot, the thunderstorms too violent, the snow too deep. The roads are spattered with mud and spit. The woods are home to skunks and porcupines and raccoons. They also shelter slaves escaping north to freedom.

Should Honor hide runaways from the ruthless men who hunt them down? The Quaker community she has joined may oppose slavery in principle, but does it have the courage to help her defy the law? As she struggles to find her place and her voice, Honor must decide what she is willing to risk for her beliefs.

Set in the tangled forests and sunlit cornfields of Ohio, Tracy Chevalier’s vivid novel is the story of bad men and spirited women, surprising marriages and unlikely friendships, and the remarkable power of defiance

What Sheli Says: This is my third Tracy Chevalier book of the year and it's another cracker! Chevalier's latest release is another historical fiction offering featuring quilts, quakers and a British girl called Honor who emigrates with her sister to America to start a new life.

The writing is once again wonderful in this book and the imagery very vivid. We meet lots of different characters in this book, and Honor faces tragedy and meets some new friends on her journey. The central story to this book is about slavery and the things that people did to help black people pass through Ohio and onto a better life whilst most people just looked the other way. To me, the relationships that were formed in the story were just as important, both good and bad, and also the realisation from Honor that life isn't all black and white.

Another great book and I look forward to discovering more of Chevalier's work. 

Sheli's Rating: 8/10

Quotes:

“Perhaps thee will best understand what Abigail is like if I tell thee that when she quilts she prefers to stitch in the ditch, hiding her poor stitches in the seams between the blocks.”

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Falling Angels

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: October 2001

What They Say: Will friendship overcome the social boundaries of Edwardian London in this bestselling historical tale perfect for fans of Audrey Niffenegger and Sarah Waters.

January 1901, the day after Queen Victoria’s death: two families visit neighbouring graves in a fashionable London cemetery. One is decorated with a sentimental angel, the other an elaborate urn. The Waterhouses revere the late Queen and cling to Victorian traditions; the Colemans look forward to a more modern society. To their mutual distaste, the families are inextricably linked when their daughters become friends behind the tombstones. And worse, befriend the gravedigger’s son.
As the girls grow up and the new century finds its feet, as cars replace horses and electricity outshines gas lighting, Britain emerges from the shadows of oppressive Victorian values to a golden Edwardian summer. It is then that the beautiful, frustrated Mrs Coleman makes a bid for greater personal freedom, with disastrous consequences, and the lives of the Colemans and the Waterhouses are changed forever.

A poignant and historical tale of two families brought reluctantly together, Falling Angels is an intimate story of childhood friendships, sexual awakening and human frailty. Its epic sweep takes in the changing of a nation, the fight for women’s suffrage and the questioning of steadfast beliefs.

What Sheli Says: This was my second foray into reading Chevalier's work and it was just as good as the first!

This book is set just post-Victorian era following the death of Queen Victoria and we follow it right through to the rallies held in London by the Suffragettes. The story is told from a number of characters' points of views and we meet a number of people along the way.

The detail of this book is brilliant, and I liked the fact that it was based around the subject of death, something that the Victorians treated very differently to how we do today. However, it is not morbid or dark in any way. It just shows a different view of life and how people dealt with it back then.

The descriptions were really evocative without being overly wordy and the characters were all really well developed, even if some were a little infuriating!

Chevalier is fast becoming one of my favourite authors and I would definitely recommend her to fans of Sarah Waters.

Sheli's Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

“Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me.”

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Girl with a Pearl Earring

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: January 1999

What They Say: Winner of the 2000 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award! Alex Award winner! Tracy Chevalier transports readers to a bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius...even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

What Sheli Says: I downloaded this book to my Kindle after seeing it in one of the winter sales. I was a little bit apprehensive about whether I would get on with this book as I can struggle with historical fiction set in this period. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the book as it was a fantastic read!

It is set in 17th Century Holland, but it does not feel overly old fashioned in the way it is written and really drags you into the life of the main character, Griet. The author has based this story on a real painting by Johannes Vermeer and has built up an amazing fictional account of how the painting came to be created.

The language in the story is fantastic. It is not overly wordy, yet paints a vivid picture in the readers mind, bringing to life the painters art through the art of writing. I would definitely recommend this book and will go back to read it again at some point.

Sheli's Rating: 10/10

Quotes: “He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face.”

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