This is such a beautifully written and heartwarming true story of a spunky lady who, against all odds, rode a horse across America. Starting in Maine, her only wish was to see the Pacific Ocean, a wish she’d heard her mother make, but was sadly never able to attempt.
Knowing she was about to lose her family farm and with nowhere to turn for help, Annie Wilkins places an ad in the paper for a sturdy horse. After seeing a few, she knew she’d met the perfect match in an older Morgan she named Tarzan. Along with her spunky dog Depeche Toi, Annie hit the road.
Along the way, Annie found the best in people most of the time. She realized well into her journey that she wasn’t traveling alone, there were many people closely following her travels with hopes of her success.
With a beautiful glimpse into an Americana that once was, the author breathes life into the towns and people of 1950’s America. The places Annie would rest for the evening, be it someone’s home, the local jail, a barn, or sometimes just out in a field restored her faith in people and her country.
I absolutely loved this book; each day was a new adventure for me and Annie. But in the back of my mind, I had to keep reminding myself of a sad fact: this trip wouldn’t be possible in today’s America. But try to block that out and enjoy the country as it once was, filled with mostly good people; people who wanted to see Annie succeed; people who still had love, patience, and trust in their hearts.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is June 1, 2021.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Before this book, I'd never heard of Annie Wilkins and her incredible journey across America in the mi-1950s. What a story! What a woman! Annie was a stout woman in her early 60s, a long-time resident of Maine. With her family farm lost to back taxes and a doctor pronouncing her with a few years left to live, Annie resolved to fulfill a lifelong wish and dip her toes in the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. She couldn't drive, though. Instead, she bought a sturdy older horse named Tarzan, and with her little dog Depeche Toi, she set off for California.

Thing is, Annie had no idea the immensity of her task. She didn't think places south of Maine really got that cold. She didn't know how to get to California either, really--just to go south and west. She wasn't stupid, though--that she had only a 6th grade education was a simple fact for women of her time. She worked her way cross-country, relying on the kindness of strangers and the whims of the weather. Her haphazard route took her past New York City and Philadelphia, through Memphis and Little Rock, up through Cheyenne and Boise. Yes, her route to Southern California took her far north, where the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierras took her by surprise. She has close scrapes all along the way--truly, this is an intense read. You can't help but love Annie and her tenacity, exasperating as her ignorance is at times.

This book has incredible depth. You learn about Annie, a woman born in the 19th century who triumphs as the 'last of the saddle tramps.' You learn about America in the 1950s on a unique, intimate level, as a woman and her horse must navigate a world increasingly rules by cars. You learn about the kindness of people in that period--which I don't feel would be evident these days, not at all.

To me, this was a five-star book. The one shame in reading this as a galley is that it didn't yet include maps, though there were placeholders for them. Readers of the complete version will benefit from those illustrations.

I could only read the first chapter. The book did not properly download. I deleted and retried to download which also did not work

What a wonderful book! This is a well written book that is full of adventure and history. The author brings this book to life with her words and you feel like you are there. I loved it! Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts in exchange for my honest opinion.

Setting out from Maine in 1954 to travel across the US on horseback to see the Pacific Ocean, this is the true story of Annie Wilkins’ trip. Elizabeth Letts has done a great job in piecing together Annie’s life and her famous journey that garnered national attention. Full of courage, determination, and honesty, we learn about how Annie approached the quest, and stories from along the road. Being of the same age as Annie when she set out, I can’t imagine taking on this challenge.

The personal interactions with people along the way were my favorites. It’s heartwarming to read about the kindness of people along the way.

I loved riding along with Annie on her journey. No better way than with her four legged friends. Such a heartfelt story with so much history imbedded! Fantastic!

In November 1954, Annie Wilkins received the doctor's news that she had maybe two years to live at best. Living on an isolated, rural, farm that in 1954 was still without modern conveniences - no electricity, no running water, no inside toilet, and heated by a cast iron wood fire stove - Annie was unafraid of hard work. Sixty-two years old, divorced, with no living relatives and faced with selling the family's multi-generational farm in Maine to become a county charity case, Annie remembered her mother's dream to hitch a buggy and just ride to Californa to see the Pacific Ocean. But her mother died without realizing that dream and Annie decided she wanted to live the remainder of her own life on her own terms.

With barely a plan, and despite not having ridden a horse in 30-years, Annie buys a rakish looking gelding, loads up her supplies, collars her dog, and hits the road, hoping to get far enough south ahead of the hard winter weather. She had no map, no flashlight, and no real idea of what awaited her in the distance.

Dependent on the kindness of strangers, her own determination, the availability of stables and the old "tramp" style of sleeping in a town jail while passing through, Annie journeys into the unknown. As Annie and crew make their way across the lower 48, the author fleshes out the context of time and place, between the changing culture, rural and urban, traditional and modern, when the Interstate Highways we are so familiar with today were being constructed.

Craftily written in a style that suits Annie: direct, informative, and descriptive, but not overly flowery, the strength of the narrative weaves Annie's life and journey with the mainstream America she didn't know. Along the way, she encounters kindness, generosity, harrowing moments, injury, loss, and discovers her true grit as the last of the saddle tramps.

Reading this book was as comfortable as Annie was uncomfortable during her journey. Engaging and captivating, we are brought along on the Ride of Her Life without any fluff, curious observers caught up in the wanderlust and nostalgia of a country so different from our modern world. Note, this is an observational biographical travelogue of what we might consider an impossible journey, not an in-depth analysis of 1950s culture from every aspect. If you're looking for something more scholarly, keep going; however, if you like a good people story with a positive message, add this to your reading list. You won't be sorry.

Five stars for the story, the comfortable writing style, the characters. My NetGalley advance copy did not include the maps which is a sneaky way of making me want a hard copy of the book. I had to stop reading to look up the journey on my phone maps app.

Elizabeth Letts’ The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America tells the unforgettable story of Annie Wilkins, a poor 62-year-old Maine farmer who makes a life-changing decision to set out on horseback for California. Knowing that she is about to lose her farm, she sells it for back taxes, takes a chance on a small horse named Tarzan, and with the little money left, no maps, and the decision to fulfill her long-deceased mother’s dream to see the Pacific Ocean, Annie and a mutt named Depeche Toi head south in November 1954.

Thinking the weather will get warmer after leaving Maine behind, Annie learns how mistaken she was. However, winter weather is far from Annie’s only obstacle as she, Tarzan, and Depeche Toi slowly make their way from town to town, state to state, frequently traveling on busy highways.

Largely a loner who thinks her only companions will be the two animals, Annie discovers strangers along the way are far kinder than many neighbors back home. Furthermore, the media get wind of Annie’s venture, offering opportunities Annie sometimes rejects, other times embraces.

As readers accompany Annie and her animal family on their eventful trek, Letts intersperses the narrative with cultural history, filling in interesting background facts that help the mid-1950s and the places through which Annie passes come alive. Occasionally, some of the historical context seemed disruptive because I wanted to know what happened to Annie next, but Letts generally found ways to make the digressions relevant.

Like me, most readers will never have heard of Annie Wilkins, and some might wonder if a poor Maine farmer’s story can hold a reader’s interest. Rest assured, Letts knows how to bring a character to life, whether in biographical fiction or biographical non-fiction. I certainly saw her bring Maud Baum to life in Finding Dorothy, as the 77-year-old widow of author L. Frank Baum fought to see that Hollywood remained true to the spirit of her husband’s book, The Wizard of Oz. Reading The Ride of Her Life, I quickly found myself caring for and worrying about Annie and her animal family and cheering them on as they ambled across the nation.

At the back of the book, Letts provides detailed notes describing her research process, which included 10,000 miles of driving from coast to coast in pursuit of Annie Wilkins' story. In addition to all the information Letts provides, I wish she had mentioned her first discovery of Annie’s amazing trip—the spark that led to her research. Perhaps the final copy of the book will satisfy my curiosity. A helpful separate section documenting sources such as newspaper articles and interviews is organized chapter-by-chapter, and the early ebook copy indicates a map or maps to come in the published edition.

Thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine/Random House, and Elizabeth Letts for an Advance Reader Copy of The Ride of Her Life, a captivating fragment of American history.

I absolutely adore this biography of a woman (Annie) in Maine, who finds out she has TB and may not have long to live and decides for the first time in her life to travel to California. She does this not in a car or train, but by riding a horse and walking across the country with little money and no knowledge about modern convivence, Oh and by the way this in 1955. Along the way, she finds people who want to help her succeed and who gives her and her companions shelter, food and kindness.

As I read this story, I felt I was privileged to see the world through Annie's eye and live the history of 1955, but also a story of compassion for ones fellow human and the gratitude this woman had for all these people she met along the way.

I would give this book a hundred stars if I could.

This is an amazing story and if you don't read Annie's journey you will miss out on an adventure of a lifetime but also lose out on all the warmth and love people in this country gave to a person they never knew but wanted to help.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this wonderful and warm book that I will never forget. BRAVO

Excellent book. I really enjoyed this book. A 63 year old woman faced with no future - except for the county charity home - decides to ride a horse from Maine to California instead. She takes her dog and sparse belongings and has virtually no plan. Along the way, she meets strangers who show her kindness and hospitality, encouraging her to go forward. In Tennessee, she is even given a second horse.

This is an adventure story like no other I've read. Annie is utterly charming in her practical, down-to-earth manner and in her willingness to take the dare and start an impossible journey. This book also gives the reader a picture of life in America in the mid-fifties, just as cars began to dominate American culture and as travel on horseback began a thing of the past. The hospitality shown by everyone Annie meets is truly heartwarming.

Highly recommended! This would be great for book clubs or for light, feel-good reading.

I enjoyed this book and I don't read nonfiction often. I can't imagine riding a horse across country. We learned some of what Annie went through, as well as, some of the history of the time. What the towns would have been like, etc. It was a very easy, interesting read.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this one it was an incredible interesting true story and I felt I was along for the ride . I truly loved it

Annie Wilkins sets off on horseback for a year and a half long cross-country journey in 1954 with few dollars, no maps and few possessions.

Annie decided it was time to leave her failing farm in Maine and begin this incredible adventure riding horseback from Maine to California as her dying wish was to see the Pacific Ocean. So much could go wrong and she was no spring chicken, (in her 60’s). Annie bought an unfamiliar horse, naming him Tarzan, loaded up some gear, familiarized her dog Depeche Tol with a leash and headed west into unknown territory. The kindnesses and compassion of complete strangers providing meals, suggested paths forward and rest in homes and stables along the way were stunning. Her animals were amazing and so perceptive and caring both to Annie and to each other.

This is an extraordinary true story, I felt that I was along for the ride and I am thankful that Annie Wilkins had the forethought to journal her experiences.

If you love mid-20th Century history and trivia, you'll love this book! The minutiae of the time is fascinating. The preparations Annie Wilkins made to take the journey and the adjustments she made along the way are quite interesting.

The level of trust between this woman, Annie Wilkins and her horses and her dog is great to see, but what's better is the level of trust between Wilkins and the people she meets on her trip. People all along her way were welcoming and warm, the kinds of people we've all heard about, but seldom meet these days.

The story gets a bit bogged down here and there, but that's not much of a problem. If you read through those portions of the book, you'll thank yourself because on the other side are more heartwarming stories and examples of trials and tribulations.

Annie wanted to make this trip and she did, and even though her doctors told her she had but 2 to 4 years to live, she ended up living for 20 some-odd more years. I like to think her trip, the time she spent fulfilling her mother's legacy, had something to do, emotionally, with her longevity.

I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Ride of Her Life is a trivia buff's dream book. Author, Elizabeth Letts, tells the thoroughly researched story of Annie Wilkins' 1950s solo horseback ride from Maine to California.  Along the way, she gives the history of many small towns, mid-century transportation, Milton-Bradley, and even the term "tramp." The story is full of kindness and simple trust. Although I skimmed through a lot of the trivia, I enjoyed this feel-good true story.

I was given access by #NetGalley for my review. #TheRideofHerLife

From tragedy to triumph, this story is a reminder of what used to be. Advantages and disadvantages of modernization, maybe? Do any of us have the gumption Annie had? She kept going and she got there. We all have much to learn from her and the people she met on the way and the kindness of strangers. I was humbled and thrilled by the journey.

Letts does a wonderful job with this narrative nonfiction that reads like a great adventure story. It's 1954 and Annie Wilkins has lost her family farm and at the age of 63 determines to ride across America to fulfill her lifelong dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean. From Maine to California she rides her horse with her dog at her side and meets all sorts of celebrities and "plain" folks. The outpouring of love and support she finds made me hope for a better future for this country.

I'm not sure what I liked most about this book. The inspirational story had me cheering for Annie's tenacity and admiring her optimistic outlook. And the details of her travels were fascinating. It was amazing how she made her way from place to place despite the odds. But it was the historical tidbits along the way that really made the book, with the glimpses of 1950s America and the contrasts to present day.

In 1954, an ordinary Maine farm woman was running out of options.. She was 63 years old and not in great health. Her last relative had died, and she was about to lose her farm. But she just wasn't ready to give up and move into the old folks' home. So she took a great leap of faith, and believing in the kindness of strangers, she bought a cheap, unwanted horse, put on a couple extra layers of men's clothes, called her dog, and set off on a true American adventure.

"The Ride of Her Life" is the memoir of Annie Wilkins, who traveled all across America at almost the last moment before the interstate highway system opened, before Disneyland reinvented Main Street USA, and before televisions were common in every household. She took off on a horse, without a map, and just basically charmed her way to California, land of dreams. Newspaper accounts and Annie's own diaries tell a story better than fiction, and author Elizabeth Letts has done a beautiful job of providing just the right amount of historical research and support without being intrusive.

As any critic will do, I thought about how else this story might have happened. I wondered if Annie would have gotten the same reception if she had been a middle-aged black man riding through towns instead of a white woman. Letts does touch on this briefly and discusses the challenges faced by people of color passing through the South at the same time, and in the back matter she recommends reading the book "Driving While Black" by Gretchen Sorin for perspective on this issue.

It is a little hard to be objective about this book because I just needed it right now. I love Annie Wilkins, I identify with her. Her amazingly stalwart horses, Rex and King, and the adorable little dog, Depeche Toi, were major characters in the story who will also steal your heart. Grab some diner pie and coffee and enjoy this book!

If nothing else, I'll give the author unlimited kudos for research on what was going on in the mid-1950s at every location mentioned - it's nothing short of amazing. That it's an engrossing, well-documented story of a very brave - and very real - woman is a plus.

The woman is Annie Wilkins, who - at age 63 - was facing an uncertain future with no income, no family and no place to live except a charity home because she'd just lost the family farm. Even worse, she was dying - or would within a couple of years, according to her doctor. Refusing to accept life in a group home or the inevitability of death so soon, she decided she had nothing to lose - and she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. How to get there, though, posed another roadblock; money for a train or bus just wasn't a possibility. She did have enough cash to buy a somewhat used horse - which she named Tarzan - so she, the horse and her beloved pooch, Depeche Toi, set off on what would be an often arduous, always adventure-filled journey from her former home in Maine to California. "I go forth as a tramp of fate among strangers," she said at the outset.

It's certainly no secret that she got there - she made local and national news many times along the way (even appearing on at the time big-time TV shows hosted by Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx). But as they say, the devil is in the details - and her experiences amid the sea-changes in the country, like burgeoning highway construction (imagine, if you will, riding a horse along a busy, truck-filled road) are often frightening. The real story, though, is how she was treated by the people she met; yes, she was a "celebrity" and, to a degree, a media darling - but she still needed places to stay and food to eat, and that depended largely on the kindness of strangers.

Annie wrote letters by the dozen along the way and kept diaries, but most of these had disappeared by the time this book was written. Much of what's here came by way of the author's painstaking research and extensive travel; direct quotes, the author says, come from an earlier book (with permission from that author's estate, of course). It's that historical "filler" that's especially interesting to someone like me, who was a mid-teenager at the time Annie set off - meaning much of it brought back many memories of what was happening around me back then.

If you love history - and a thoroughly interesting story of a woman's courage amid adversity - you'll love this book. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.