The Last Runaway cover art

The Last Runaway

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £14.27

Buy Now for £14.27

About this listen

Laurel Lefkow reads 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? 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.

©2013 Tracy Chevalier (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Fiction Historical Fiction Heartfelt Law Ohio
All stars
Most relevant
This is an amazing tale – a naive young woman from Dorset, a Quaker, who accompanies her sister emigrating to Ohio. She soon discovers that even the northern states are riven with moral conflicts around slavery. She tries hard to hold fast to her beliefs, but comes under massive pressure to compromise. A beautifully told tale, superbly read.

Moral conflicts in pre-abolition America

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A coming of age story by a wonderful author. Set in a time of great upheavel it is a lesson for all!

Mesmerising and captivating!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love Tracy Chevalier books and really enjoyed this one. The story builds and the characters really come to life. The narrator is American which is fine as it is set in Ohio and in short bursts her Voicing of the Dorset accent of the main character is fine however in the longer passages which required a Dorset accent we drifted off to Yorkshire or even Lancashire!! 😉 Anyway - I recommend this book.

Story and characters build through the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Tracy Chevalier learned to quilt whilst writing this story of a Quaker girl in the 19th century caught up in the underground railroad which helped slaves escape from the horrors of the Southern States. The result is a patchwork of characters that come together to give a picture of that time with as satisfying a denouement as anything Chevalier has given before.

Stitching together a history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the characters and themes in this book. Although centred around slavery it was uplifting. A really good read

A thrilling and engaging story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews