Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: The Bride’s Farewell
Author: Meg Rosoff
Publisher: Plume
ISBN-13: 978-0-452-29621-3
Release Date: September 2010
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
Year/Setting: 1850’s England (Nomansland)
Overall Rating: 4.5
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Mild
Violent Content Rating: Minimal/Moderate
Meg's Website/Blog: www.megrosoff.co.uk
Dear Readers:
This wonderful, heartfelt novel, in my opinion, could entertain both young adults and adults, with its engaging storyline about an independent girl who chooses to succeed in life during a time when females were thought to be nothing more than cooks and child-bearers.
Pell Ridley throws her wedding dress on a dusty chair, removes the coins set aside for her dowry from her home, jumps on her best friend – her horse, Jack – and waves goodbye. She was, almost since birth, engaged to be married to her best friend and fellow horse lover, Birdie Finch. There were times in her young life when she didn’t mind that she and Birdie would eventually walk down an aisle together, but as she grew into a hard worker who knows far more about horses than her "manly" counterparts, Pell decided that she wanted to be a career-woman during a time period that never saw females in this capacity.
Pell watched her own mother, over time, as her face fell, her hair turn gray, and, most importantly, her smile disappear, and Pell doesn’t want her life to be the same way; not only that, but her father, a self-righteous, God-fearing preacher man is anything but. A mean overlord of the family, Pell watched him use the family’s hard-earned money to buy drink, and when the children did the work, their father would simply leave the house and go preach at anyone who would listen…mostly at the town tavern. Seeing as that this was Pell’s introduction to marriage, it certainly wasn’t a surprise when she raced off to a new town hoping to secure employment and change her future.
The one thing that Pell doesn’t count on is the fact that her mute brother will not let her go without him; he is sitting astride her horse and will not budge, as they ride off to the horse fair in Salisbury. The first people that Pell meets up with are a family of gypsies. And although her father has always labeled gypsies as heathens, Pell finds herself completely comfortable with Esther and her five kids. Even though Esther looks at Bean, Pell’s mute brother, as if she’s seen him before, the camaraderie they share makes Pell feel extremely happy.
At the fair, she runs into a man who has shaggy deerhounds by his side. He and his friend say they will pay Pell a wage if she will use her extraordinary talent to pick out just the right horses for the men to buy. Through a twist of fate, Pell is suddenly abandoned without her promised money from the two men, her own horse is gone, and her mute brother has disappeared, perhaps kidnapped by the two men.
The adventure ensues as Pell finds herself going across the country to look for her brother and get what she is owed. With the help of the gypsy family, who are more deeply involved in her past and her family than Pell will ever know, she sets out to make things right.
My favorite part of this story is the "six degrees of separation" angle. The intricate lives of Pell, her father, the "dog" man, and her brother, overlap and weave together to bring this novel to an incredible conclusion that I believe readers of all ages would love and learn something from. My best wishes to the author! This was truly a wonderful read.
Until next time,
Amy
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