The Brides Farewell

Hello!

I just reread a book that I hadn't read in a while. It's called The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff.

Summary: Pell Ridley, living in rural England, has watched her family suffer in many ways, especially her mother. She wants no part in the life that everyone has planned for her, even when she would get to marry her childhood sweetheart. She runs away from home on her prized horse, Jack, and rides to a fair to see what life brings. She goes on a journey, meets many people and learns who she is and what is really important.

I would give this book a four stars, because it is so brief, and the characters seem very removed. However, I think that the story is fascinating and I love the book. I think that Dogman is wonderful, and quite frankly amusing, just because of his carefree survival attitude, despite the fact that he is barely in the book. I also love the way which Meg Rosoff writes. While the reader is removed from the characters emotions, the reader is still involved in a way that is indescribable. You care about the characters, not because you know and understand exactly what they are feeling, but because you invested some part of yourself in them, when you started reading. I was myself when I read the book. I didn't become the main character or get deep into what she was thinking, which I thought was cool. I also like how she doesn't include much dialogue, because that makes the dialogue that she does write become vastly more important. The speech shows something about the characters and the relationship of the character. Many things are left up to interpretation or are vague, which at first was irritating, but by the end, I enjoyed the way Rosoff let the reader decide what happened in a way. She woke up my own imagination when I was reading, which is something I don't often experience. When I read, I let the author do the imagining for me, so this was a completely different experience for me.

Something that also stuck me about this book, was its simplicity. The girl, Pell, left home and abandoned her fiancee, and went on a journey which ended in self discovery and some sort of happiness. This was a refreshing change after all of the modern day books, where so many things are going on all at once.

There are so many great and unique parts to the book, I can't even begin to describe them all. I had forgotten how much I loved this book.

My favorite quote: " 'Why will I have you?' He paused. 'Because you'll have me. It's the same for both of us, don't you see?' " (p.214)

I give this book as I said before, a four. I think that the book is short and a lot of things happen very quickly, but I like the plot, the characters, the writing style, and the feel that I got when reading it. I would definitely recommend this to my friends.

xoxo.

Miss Liz