The Last Runaway

The Last Runaway (2013) is the seventh novel by British American author Tracy Chevalier, whose most well-known work is her 1999 novel The Girl With a Pearl Earring, which was adapted into a film in 2003. Chevalier is known for her historical fiction that centers female characters. Upon its release, The Last Runaway received mixed reviews, though Chevalier’s research and the detail of her historical portrayals were broadly praised. Publishers Weekly called The Last Runaway a “thought-provoking, lyrical novel” (“The Last Runaway.” Publishers Weekly), while Kirkus Reviews suggested that “all of the blood and tears of the time are made polite and palatable, making quiet Honor’s story a bit too quiet” (“The Last Runaway.” Kirkus Reviews).

This guide refers to the e-book edition published by Penguin in 2017.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide reference slavery, racism and racist slurs (the book includes the n-word, which is not replicated in this guide), dubious sexual consent, deaths of family members, and violence (including racist violence and gun violence).

Plot Summary

The novel opens with British Quaker Honor Bright departing England to emigrate to America with her sister, Grace, who is engaged to another Quaker who lives near Oberlin, Ohio. Honor spends the transatlantic voyage plagued with intense seasickness, making her certain that she can never return to England. Shortly after their arrival in the United States, Grace dies of yellow fever. Honor decides to continue to Faithwell, the Ohio Quaker community where Grace’s former fiancé lives. She is escorted to nearby Wellington by an elderly man named Thomas. They are stopped along the way by Donovan, who is pursuing those escaping slavery. Donovan, intrigued by Honor, steals the key to her trunk.

In Wellington, Honor stays with Belle Mills, the milliner, whom she quickly befriends. Belle is Donovan’s sister, though she finds her brother’s racist work abhorrent. (Honor will later learn that Belle works with the Underground Railroad to help those escaping slavery reach freedom in Canada.) Belle teaches Honor, a talented quilter, to make hats. Honor enjoys the work, though she flees back inside the shop when she sees a Black man standing in Belle’s yard. Later, in town, she sees a sign advertising a reward for capturing a fugitive from slavery named Jonah. Donovan is responsible for the sign. When Honor detects Jonah’s presence the next day, she is no longer alarmed, knowing that Jonah has more reason to fear her than she him.

Adam Cox, the man who had been engaged to Grace, retrieves Honor. Adam reports that he never received notice that Honor would accompany Grace. His brother, Matthew, has also recently died. As they make the uncomfortable journey to Faithwell, Donovan approaches, speaking to Honor with inappropriate familiarity. He asks to search the wagon; when Adam refuses, Donovan punches him. In a letter to her family, Honor reports that the early days living with Adam and his widowed sister-in-law, Abigail, are awkward. Matters do not improve; Honor criticizes Abigail’s housework and dislikes the smallness of Faithwell. In her mental comparisons between England and America, America is continually lacking. She laments the appliqué style of quilting popular in Ohio, which she finds lazy.

Honor begins helping Adam in his Oberlin dry goods shop, and she is astonished at the notable Black community in Oberlin. She, Adam, and Abigail listen to abolitionist speeches for the Fourth of July, as Quakers do not celebrate the “freedom” of Americans since this freedom does not extend to Black Americans. Honor comes to know the other Faithwell residents, including judgmental Judith Haymaker, matriarch of a prominent farming family in town. Judith finds it inappropriate that Adam lives with Abigail and Honor, two unmarried women to whom he is not related by blood. When Honor reports this to a visiting Belle, Belle recommends that Honor marry. This option becomes more appealing when Adam and Abigail become engaged.

Jack Haymaker, Judith’s son, begins courting Honor. After several outings, they have sex and announce their engagement shortly thereafter. Judith does not genuinely approve, insisting that Honor lacks sufficient quilts to wed, as a bride traditionally has 13 to bring to her marital home. Judith eventually offers her reluctant approval, however. Jack and Honor marry; the same day, Honor falls ill with a protracted fever. While she is recovering, she looks outside and sees a Black woman (who she will later learn is named Virginie). She offers her water from the well and helps her hide from Donovan, who arrives soon thereafter. Donovan indicates that he knows Honor helped the woman and reminds her that doing so is illegal.

Later, Jack tells Honor that Virginie was recaptured and says that he would neither help nor report someone escaping slavery. He expresses his support for “colonization,” which would send formerly enslaved people to Africa to form their own country. Honor wonders if Jack has ever asked a Black person about this; when she presents the question to Mrs. Reed, a free Black woman living in Oberlin, Mrs. Reed scoffs at the notion. When, several days later, Honor encounters a Black man in the woods, she sends him to Mrs. Reed, who later scolds her for using names. She tells her about a safe house in Oberlin. Honor begins leaving food for those escaping slavery and directs them to the house that Mrs. Reed indicated.

Jack eventually reveals that he knows what Honor is doing and forbids her from continuing, citing the risk of legal repercussions as too great. Honor finds that she cannot resist aiding those she encounters, however. Increased pressure from Judith, as well as Honor’s advancing pregnancy, eventually convince her to stop. In Oberlin, she encounters Donovan, who claims that he will stop pursuing those escaping slavery if Honor leaves Jack for him. She reveals her pregnancy, upsetting Donovan. Honor continues to Mrs. Reed’s house, where she apologizes for ceasing to help escapees. Mrs. Reed counters that Honor owes the apology to those whom she will no longer help.

When Honor encounters an injured Black man in the woods, she fears that he will die without aid. When Judith refuses to help, Honor seeks Donovan. Though she knows that Donovan will recapture the man, she believes this is better than dying from infection. When they find the man, however, he has already died. Honor, horrified, returns to the Haymaker farm, where her sister-in-law, Dorcas, reports that the Haymakers’ father was killed while trying to aid an escapee. This is why Jack is so against Honor’s abolitionist work.

Honor ceases speaking for several months, which upsets her family and the Faithwell community. Honor, however, finds that this provides considerable mental clarity. When Virginie is found hiding in a haybale on Haymaker land, however, Honor knows that she will be assumed to be involved, even though she wasn’t. Honor gathers a small bundle of her things and flees with Virginie. They spend the night hiding in a cornfield and then continue to Wellington as Donovan and Jack pursue them. Virginie continues south (she is returning from Canada to retrieve her children and take them with her back to freedom) while a heavily pregnant Honor continues to town. She finds Donovan awaiting her at Belle’s shop. He retrieves help, as Honor has gone into labor.

Belle writes to Honor’s parents to announce the birth of Comfort Grace Haymaker and urges them to tell Honor to return to Jack, as Belle is slowly dying. Jack regularly visits Honor in Wellington, as does Judith. While Jack’s visits are pleasant, Judith’s contain threats: If Honor does not return to Faithwell, she will be expelled by the Quakers, and Comfort will be taken from her.

When a woman arrives at Belle’s shop discussing a “delivery,” Honor understands that Belle is helping someone escape slavery. When she hears a sick child coughing, she learns that Virginie and her daughters are hiding at Belle’s on their way back to Canada. Honor hides the sick girl in her bed so that she can be warm overnight. When Donovan enters the house, she nurses Comfort so that Donovan does not look too closely in her bedroom. The next day, Virginie and her children get away safely.

Mrs. Reed comes to Wellington to urge Honor to return to the Haymakers, citing Comfort’s needs as greater than Honor’s politics. Donovan then bursts into the house. He says that Mrs. Reed is not a free woman but rather someone who escaped slavery 12 years prior; under the new Fugitive Slave Law, he can apprehend her. Donovan drags Mrs. Reed outside and orders an approaching Jack to help him. Jack hesitates. Belle shoots Donovan, killing him. As the novel closes, Honor writes a letter to her friend in England reporting that she, Jack, and Comfort plan to head west, their destination undecided.