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L'ultima Fuggitiva (2012)

by Tracy Chevalier(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

8854506788 (ISBN13: 9788854506787)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Neri Pozza

review 1: I loved The Girl with the Pearl Earring and The Lady and the Unicorn as I tend to real novels in the present, and thought them different and evocative, using a craft to illustrate a period of time and place. The Last Runaway does this also as it tells the story of a quilt making Quaker girl sailing to America with her betrothed sister to escape a doomed relationship of her own. I was intrigued with this as I live in a Quaker village and have a quilter for a neighbour. But I was sorely disappointed. Honour Bright is such a bland, sanctimonious young girl for a heroine. She is too seasick to return to England after the death of her sister and so she stays on finding fault with just about everyone and everything she meets. Unfortunately she doesn't have the strength to stay ... morewith Belle, the milliner who hides runaways. She has to go and live with her sister's betrothed, and fairly swiftly marries within the religious community and from this point on, the story drags. She feels an outsider and does nothing to attempt to fit in with her new folk. She criticises their cooking, housekeeping and of course their unsophisticated quilting. She sets herself further apart by assisting runaway slaves when her family will not, BUT then she gets has the hots for Donovan, a slave catcher. Totally incongruous!!But what really bothered me, was Chevalier's writing. The story was told in the 3rd person, through Honour's eyes and we hear her own words in the letters at the end of each chapter. But these add NOTHING to the story, just repeat what has gone or is about to happen. The quilting techniques are interestingly described - but several times, as if we might not have understood the first time. The Underground Railway offers an exciting and emotive strand to the drama, but remains too much in the background to really affect the reader. And so the story drones on, more like a lightweight romance than a well researched novel of substance. What a shame.
review 2: There are little things that annoy me about chevalier's style; namely I wish she took the time and trouble to get her hands dirtier with the books she writes. I mean, she could walk away with some seriously grubby nails if only... If only. The stories make for compelling reading and the characters are affable enough if not somewhat forgettable. But her novels have that unputdownable quality. And you cannot deny her that much. That said, there is a fundamental lack of depth in these stories. There is so much meat here! There is plenty of good research that goes in, so one can't help but wish there was more chunk in every bite. Still, I rate it four stars because from the moment I picked it up to the time I finished, I pretty much hated anything that kept me away from reading this book. less

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