Tracy Chevalier, the scribe of The Girl With A Pearl Earring, continues her tales set in the classical period in her seventh novel titled The Last Runaway. The book is said to be released early next year, January 2013 in the US and March 2013 in the UK.
Truth be told, I sometimes juggle the US and UK editions when buying my books. I usually check which cover is better and I'd stick to that edition until its completion if it's a series. So much for don't judge a book by its cover, huh?
Personally, the book would be quite enjoyable to read if its cover looked nice as well. But today I am stumped on which edition to buy since both covers of The Last Runaway from the US and UK editions are marvelous! Can you please help me choose? I don't really mind US or UK jargons or colloquials, so any of the two editions would be ok.
Which of these two covers of The Last Runaways by Tracy Chevalier do you like best?
US Cover by Dutton
US Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring 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.
In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who 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, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor 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.
A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.
UK Cover by HarperCollins
UK Synopsis:
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.
Hopefully, I could decide by the end of the year, before the book comes out next year.
