I think Meg Rosoff would be one of my favourite authors, I've just recently discovered her - every book so readable, so different from the other, so well-written, so thoughtful...
The latest one I've just finished is the romantic, coming of age novel The Bride's Farewell (Viking, 2009) - published as an adult book but for me a definitely a great YA fiction title.
This book is set in 19th century England, and tells the story of Pell, a young woman who steals away in the night to avoid an inevitable marriage and the children, hard work and limited life that it seems to prescribe. She leaves, with her horse, and, unexpectedly, a younger brother, and the hope of finding a different life, but through the adventures and vicissitudes ahead of her, it is clear the links to her family are far from broken.
Amazon has some good reviews, and here is a youtube link from Penguin with Meg talking about the book.
Here is a link to an interview with Meg Rosoff from The Guardian - with some reading from the book, and talking about the books' inspirations and personal connections.
You can tell Meg loves dogs, and horses, and words... Her prose has a wonderful cadence.
"It was a tangle of a family, for better or worse, a right complexity of children, all knotted up with love and jealousy..."
"Pell's father's family were clergymen of the worst sort: charming, immoral, and unkempt, with livings too small to keep a family and behaviour unbecoming men of God."
"For those poor souls who can only think of the terrible fear and danger of a runaway horse, think of this : a speed like water flowing over a stone, a skimming sensation that hovers and dips while the world spins around and the wind drags your skin taut across your bones..."
Here is Meg's blog http://www.megrosoff.co.uk/blog/
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