Meg Rosoff is a wonderful, captivating writer – her evocation of place and time are pitch perfect. 5 *****
—Daily Telegraph
A poetically charged romance, full of thorny emotional dilemmas… Meg Rosoff has created a feisty 19th-century heroine whose troubles and travails are strikingly salient in the world of modern romance.
—Marie Claire Magazine
Meg Rosoff writes harrowing, psychologically complex crossover novels. An international bestseller, How I Live Now, was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and took the Printz Award and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Just in Case and What I Was are intense enough to galvanize teens and adults. The same holds true for her compulsively readable new novel The Bride’s Farewell. Rosoff’s prose is strong and muscular, its cadence that of a horse’s canter, its chiming tone ballad-like. Teens will be enthralled by Pell and her archetypal quest; adults will revel in the novel’s canny wit, lyricism and piercing insights.
—LA Times
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)
Rosoff never patronises her readership or succumbs to the desire to make goodness seem simple: her world is as morally ambiguous as it is deftly realised, and all the better for it.
—The Guardian
Another shift in emphasis for this always revelatory author as she illuminates the lives of the rural poor in the world of Hardy’s Wessex… it is not necessary to love horses, but you probably will after reading it.
—The Bookseller
An engaging, impeccably-written novel, it tells a feminist story of feisty independence, set against a rural, patriarchal background.
—Independent on Sunday
Pell’s tale is slim yet rich, like a flourless chocolate cake. The lyrical passages and the strange and wonderful characters will linger with you long after the covers are closed. You’ll be tempted to devour the book in one gulp, to read it in one sitting, when really, it should be savored.
—Tampa/St Petersburg Times
[...] is the author of How I live Now and What I Was, both favorite novellas in my book. Here is her website with a few reviews of this lovely book about a girl with a white horse and an [...]
Hey,
I have just finished reading The Bride’s Farewell and I think it’s absolutely brilliant, I’ve been waiting to read it for ages and was slightly jealous when my sister brought it first and read it before me! I always look forward to reading your books because I love the extremely unique characters you write about. I think Finn is my favourite because I love the mysteriousness that surrounds the character and I admire how, like Pell, Finn is completely individual and not afraid of being an outsider in the society they live in. Your books have also inspired my creative writing in A-level English this year which I really enjoyed doing so thank you Meg
I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Amy
xx
Great to hear from you, Amy, and really pleased you liked Bride’s Farewell. I’m just finishing up There Is No Dog now, so it should be out middle of next year. I know, it’s a long time to wait! I must get working on the next one now….. xxxmeg
I just finished the german version of “A bride’s farewell” (audiobook) last night and after I wrote my review an hour ago (you can see it on my website), I am happy that I can tell you how impressed I am. A great book that went straigt into the heart and the next step I do is order at least two of your other books. If you don’t mind that my english gets worse every day, I would love to do an interview with you if you’d like. And I can also try to translate my review.
Many greetings from your new fan in Germany!
Katrin
Dear Meg,
thank you so much for writing such a wonderful book. I had shivers reading it. I have not had such a strong reaction to a book in a long time.
Mirka
Thank you, Mirka. You’ve made my day. xmeg
I am reading your book as we speak and I love it. We are snowed in here at my house and I prefer to read rather than watch tv and I have this book finished tonight before I got to bed. Thank you so much for a wonderful story
How lovely to hear. Thank you — I’ll think of you in the snow…. xmeg
I finished reading ‘The Bride’s Farewell’ today and I absolutely adore it. When I read ‘What I Was’, I didn’t think I’d ever find a book as perfect, but I have. ‘The Bride’s Farewell’ makes me feel like, as a girl, I can do anything. Pell is so inspiring and I love the way her life is entirely her own. The book is described as a romance but to me it’s a story about adventure and relying on yourself. I think the way you write and the way everything is described in your books is wonderful. I love writing myself and your attention to detail in every sentence is exactly what I aim to be a expert in.
Thank you, Lucie. What a gorgeous response. And I agree, it is more about adventure and relying on yourself than romance, though a little romance never hurts….
Really nice to hear from you, and good luck with your writing. xxMeg
Hello,
This book made me cry, happy tears.
Bye.
I am a grown ass woman and I’m not ashamed to say that I love and have read this book at least 25 times. Thank you for writing such enthralling and captivating characters who charmed me from the first page to the last. I want to be Pell when I grow up!
Ah, lovely T Smith. How wonderful to hear from you. I, too, want to be Pell when I grow up. Sadly, Bride’s Farewell seems to have snuck silently into the book world so spread the word to all your friends and let’s double my sales to 12!
Read How I Live Now and then bought a copy a couple of years ago. Proceeded to loan out book to anyone who would listen to me raving about it! Never thought another Rosoff novel would blow me away..Dickon’s illness had me in tears! The animal’s characters and personalities were as brilliantly drawn as the human’s. Pell is an amazing heroine, in an amazing book. Another one for my bookcase and to peddle onto others. Thank you, Meg.
Lovely! Thank you, Nabila. So glad to hear you liked another one…. xmeg
Came across your book in the library sitting aside a shelf calling to me. The Brides Farewall was a wonderful surprise and had it completed in a day for I could not put it down. The narration was so familiar to me that it made me pull out my own story, dust it off and get more work done on it. Thank you for the motivation to get back to work and the great characters that have been left in my head! Dicken was by far my favorite!!
Luved Bride’s Farewell but thought u rushed the ending. Killing off characters in the house fire was lazy. It shows that u cudn’t b bothered to write about how they lived at the end. Also near the end where Birdie and Lou blame Pell for all that’s happened was a really bad move. It’s like in that one page you contradicted yourself and massacred Pell. Throughout the hole book u say that Pell was innocent and then u say she’s not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U ruined the book with the ending. No more 2 say!!!!
Hi Callum. Don’t know how old you are, but I’m suggesting you come back and reread in five years. Just a suggestion. x
Just read your answer to my comment, I’m 11. My school is participating in the Carnegie Medal and I’m one of the people doing this. That’s how I came to read the book. I won’t be rereading
Hello, I also read this book in the Carnegie Award. I thought it was a great book and the storyline was amazing, I’m not a fan of reading but I was surprised how good it was. Obviously if people can’t be bothered to reread it in a few years when then they will understand it better surely they are the lazy ones not you
Thanks, Trinity! It’s lovely to get positive feedback…. So glad you liked the book. xxxMeg
No problemXX
hellooo!
I thought the Brides farwell was truley amazing, one of the best books i have ever read! I loved the stroyline, it was happy and sad at the same time and the way you developed the characters made me feel like i knew them.
I read some of the comments above about the ending but personally i loved it! The way the ending was left open, so you decide if the character lived happily or not. Also, the ending wasnt lazy, it just shows life how it is. If everyone lived happpily then it would be much less believeable. Your writing is magical! Well, thats just my opinion!
kat x
Thank you, Kat. How lovely of you to say so. So glad you liked the book (and the ending!)
xxxMeg
I was assigned this book for school….., i not so sure how it will settle, but i know after reading all of those comments, i really look forward to reading it
Good luck with it Captain A. xxx
To me, the way this story was written, reminded me of Jane Eyre. A real classic. It was the way it wasn’t a straightforward story but meandered along with lots of different characters. Also, the way it illustrates what life was like in the workhouse days. I was pleasantly surprised and so glad that it had a happy ending and some romance.
Hy, I thout the Bride,s Farewell was a brillent bool. I loved it and well defentely read it agane one day.
Thanks, Lara. x