As the two Bright sisters head off to
America in 1850 it is Grace who does so in expectation of an exciting future,
while for Honor it is more to do with leaving the past behind. Grace is betrothed to a man already settled
in Ohio whereas Honor’s engagement back in Bridport has just been broken off.
They are Quakers, and after an arduous
Atlantic crossing they head overland through Pennsylvania to the recently
established township of Faithwell where many of their faith have put down
roots. En route Honor encounters two
people who do not share her faith but are destined to play a significant part
in her future – larger than life milliner Belle Mills and arrogant but handsome
Mr Donovan.
In Faithwell there is little enough to do
but make quilts, something Honor is very adept at, but that changes when
circumstances pitch Honor up at the Haymaker dairy farm, which transpires to be
on the route of the fabled ‘underground railroad’. The railroad isn’t real but a network of
anti-slavery activists and sympathisers that provide safe houses and work to
assist runaway slaves escape north to freedom.
In the community there are helpers (like
Belle), hunters (like Donovan), and those in between who sympathise with the
runners but who are fearful of the consequences of getting involved. Honor must make her choices.
Told from Honor’s viewpoint, supplemented by
first person letters home, there are well penned descriptions of Honor’s new
world – the landscapes, the changing seasons, and the new society she finds
herself in. Even the quilts are
different here.
Slaves pass through, some safely, some not;
but it is not so much about them as about how Honor wrestles with conflicting
loyalties (family, faith, law, friendship, humanity and her own feelings as a
woman). It is also quite a lot about
quilts, which may or may not be a metaphor that passed this reviewer by.
As befits a tale of Quaker folk it is a
gentle read (the sex and violence are quickly and efficiently dealt with) but
be prepared for lots of thee’s and thou’s in the dialogue that while adding
verisimilitude to the text eventually grate on the modern eye.
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