The last runaway by Tracy Chevalier, 2013.

I decided to read this after coming across an article about the author in New Books magazine.
The book is set in 1850 and the main themes are emigration, slavery, the Quaker religion and their church and the importance of silence to reach God and find Inner Light. Another of the themes is difference between two countries and two cultures: difference in the natural world, food, farming, names, traditions and attitudes. In her isolation Honor Bright, the main character feels these differences more intensely.
Honor and her sister, Grace, have set off from their home in Bridport, Devon, for a new life in America. The sea journey seems to take forever and Honor is physically sick for most of the voyage. Grace is emigrating to Ohio to get married and Honor is going with her after being jilted by her young man. Both the girls are Quakers and the language reflects this with many 'thees' and 'thous'. However, when the girls get there events take an unexpected turn and Honor has to stay in Wellington with Belle Mills, a milliner. Honor is very skilled in sewing and quilt making and she is given work by Belle making bonnets. She meets Donovan, Belle's brother, who is considered to be a bad man and who catches runaway slaves for a living. Donovan is fascinated by Honor and their paths start to cross. Honor becomes aware of the issue of slavery in America and how the different states, and even different towns in the same state, have subtly different views.
She learns about the "underground railway" which was a network of safe houses which offered shelter to runaway slaves making their way north to Canada where slavery is illegal. The novel is set some years before the American Civil War which was fought over the issue of slavery between the southern and the northern states.  The slaves are advised to follow the north star to find their way to freedom and a quilt pattern 'The Star of Bethlehem' provides a key motif in the book.
The role of sewing and quilt making in women's lives is am important aspect in the story and it is probably this skill that helps Honor to be accepted by the community she finds herself in. Eight quilts are required by families in that community before a bride can be considered ready for marriage. Interspersed between the chapters are letters from Honor to her family and friend, Biddy, and letters back from them which take several months to arrive. Also crossing the Atlantic are some of Honor's quilts which she gave to friends and family before she left for America.
Eventually, Honor has to make a choice between two men and two different possible futures.
The book is easy to read and full of details about the differences between the life in England and America. The reader perceives the experience through the eyes of Honor and, because she is a Quaker with silence and stillness parts of her faith, this makes the experience so real and intense.