The Bride's Farewell

I find stories such Keturah and the Lord of Death the best kind of escapism and was delighted to be transported once again by The Bride's Farewell, a completely enchanting tale of love found, lost and found again by Meg Rosoff. Set in the mid 1800s, in a small English village, I made friends with Pell, a young woman on the eve of her marriage, stealing away under the cover of darkness with only a soft woolen shawl intended as a wedding gift and her beloved horse Jack. At the last moment, Bean, her young brother, won't be left behind and off they go into the great unknown with the confidence that the world down the road is better than the one they are leaving.  The path of life is a twisty one however and Pell has her share of heartaches as well as triumphs. The beauty of the language, the purity of a friendship with a horse and the perseverance of one girl, alone against the world, makes for a gripping tale of determination and the love of family. So satisfying! - Nina

As exhilarating as a ride across the moors, Rosoff’s fourth novel is rich in the emotional landscape of the untamed female heart. The Bride’s Farewell has elements of Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles and a good number of Flambards books, yet Rosoff’s vivid, pared-down style brings it closer to a kind of western… every sentence is crafted and weighted with beauty, but it’s the intelligence and shaping sensibility with which the story is told that make it something special.
—The Times (London)

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Read an extract here.
Enjoy Shelf Elf's review with a video of Meg talking about the book.
The Guardian's video of Meg Rosoff reading The Bride's Farewell.