The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America
Elizabeth Letts
The incredible true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion . In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a sixty-three-year-old farmer from Maine, embarked on an impossible journey. She had no relatives left, she'd lost her family farm to back taxes, and her doctor had just given her two years to live--but only if she lived restfully. more
336 pages, Hardcover
First published Ballantine Books
4.24
Rating
9300
Ratings
1498
Reviews
Elizabeth Letts
17 books 939 followers
ELIZABETH LETTS is an award winning and bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction. The Perfect Horse was the winner of the 2017 PEN USA Award for Research Non-fiction and a #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller. The Eighty-Dollar Champion was a #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2012 Daniel P Lenehan Award for Media Excellence from the United States Equestrian Foundation. She is also the author of two novels, Quality of Care and Family Planning, and an award-winning children's book, The Butter Man. She lives in Southern California and Northern Michigan.Community reviews
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth LettsThis well written book shows us the why sixty-three-year-old Annie Wilkins decided she had no choice but to make the naïve decision to ride from her failing farm in Maine, to the state of California, in 1954. Annie had lost her family farm, was broke and her doctor said she was dying. She was too proud to go live in a charity home or with friends of her late family. So Annie buys an aged Morgan horse, loads her belongings on her and her horse, Tarzan, and starts out for California, with her dog, Depeche Toi. Sadly, Annie has no idea what she is asking of herself and her animals. more
The last of the “saddle tramps”, sixty-three-year-old Mainer, Annie Wilkins, was in ill health, having been given only 2 years to live. She’s known only hard work and hardship her entire life, and is now completely broke after losing her family and farm. Her only option was to go into a care home. Instead, Annie buys a horse, Tarzan, who was destined for the feedlot, and sets out for California, with her dog, Depeche Toi. Seeing the Pacific was a lifelong dream. more
4. 5 StarsBy the time Annie gave any thought to leaving her quaintly scenic hometown of Minot, Maine in November 1954, she’d lived sixty-three years, most of them on her family’s farm. It was a relatively small community, a village settled in 1769 with a population of 750+ people four years before. It wasn’t the only place she’d ever lived, but it was where she’d spent most of her life. Despite the fact that she owned very little, had little money, she set her sites on travelling to Los Angeles, California. more
Annie Wilkins was not a woman of the world. She lived her life quietly, working from dawn to dusk at her farm, but at age sixty-three, she made a decision that would impact her life and the lives of countless others. Annie decided to travel from her home in Maine cross country to California. This was a perilous journey for a woman her age, and traveling only with the layers of clothes on her back, her trusted horse, Tarzan, her dog, Depeche Toi, she embarked upon this journey, broke, without family and with the fact that her doctor had given her only two more years of life. Leaving in mid-November, she set out not knowing what she was facing. more
In November 1954, Annie Wilkins, who was in her 60s, embarked on a solo journey – on horseback – from her hometown of Minot, Maine, to California. Her cross-country trip is the subject of “The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America,” by Elizabeth Letts, author of “The Eighty-Dollar Champion” and “The Perfect Horse. ”Read the rest of my review in the Christian Science Monitor. more
Annie Wilkins was 63 when she began her journey. She had been given 2-4 years to live. Despite the lack of a planned route, she pointed her horse south and left her farm behind. As Elizabeth Letts tells Annie's story, we also get a snapshot of our country in 1956. Along the way there were many clues to the new normal that was making itself known. more
4 journey of a lifetime starsThis true story is quite remarkable. Annie Wilkins has just lost her farm in rural Maine and at age 63 she sets out for California which she has always heard is full of sunshine. She’s got minimal money, her dog, and a trusty horse. In 1954 there was no such thing as internet navigation, so she relies on gas station maps and word of mouth to navigate across the country. At about 10 miles per day, it takes her quite a while and as you might expect, it is more about the journey. more
Annie Wilkins is a strong female character. In the 20th century, she doesn’t fit the norm. She is divorced twice and doesn’t attend church. She is not devout or docile. She is funny and bold. more
Elizabeth Letts has become one of my drop-everything authors. Instead of writing about the same historical figures that everybody else writes about, she finds noteworthy women that have fallen through the cracks of history. The Ride of Her Life chronicles the latter years of Annie Wilkins, a senior citizen that given not long to live, and not much to lose, decides to embark on a cross-country journey on horseback so that she can see the Pacific Ocean before she dies. I was invited to read and review this remarkable novel by Net Galley and Random House Ballantine. It’s for sale now. more
The incredible true story of Anne, a 63 year old woman dying of cancer, who rode her horse across America in the 1950s because she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. I love all of Letts' books . more
I loved this book. It’s a wonderful non-fiction account of Annie Wilkins and her late-in-life adventure across the United States in the mid 1950’s. At age 63, Annie’s doctor had given her two years to live. She also had a farm that she was going to lose to back taxes and she had no money stashed away. One of her dreams was to see the Pacific Ocean, so she decided to buy a horse and pack up for an adventure from Maine to California. more
This is a truly enjoyable journey that we take with an elderly woman, her dog, and her horse from Maine to California in the 1950s. Annie has lost her home but not her spirit as she packs up her few belongings, her dog, and her horse and hits the road to California, becoming a celebrity along the way. It seems to me that times were simpler then, as Annie could knock on doors of strangers routinely and find a place to stay, and sometimes medical care for herself and her animals. Along the way we learn the history of the many towns and cities she visited. This is a truly heartwarming story. more
Intriguing and inspiring. A true story I’d not heard before but lapped up eagerly due to the author’s beautifully written narrative. At 63, Annie Wilkins was broke, ill and unable to manage her Maine farm any longer. She decided to chuck it all, and set off to see the Pacific Ocean, riding her horse named Tarzan while accompanied by her dog, Depeche Toi. It was 1954. more
This is an EXCELLENT book based on the true story of Annie Wilkins. She is a farmer in Maine. When she realizes that there is no future in farming in Maine, she buys a horse and sets off on a journey to CA. She, her horse, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, experience much. Starting in the fall of 1954, they finally arrive in Hollywood CA in the spring of 1956. more
Genre: NonfictionPublisher: Random HousePub. Date: June 1, 2021If I was the author’s editor, I would have suggested a name change. The current title makes me think of a young woman running off on a motorcycle with her boyfriend rather than this heartwarming, true story, of an amazing 63-year-old woman, Annie Wilkins. In the 1950s, she crosses the country by horseback. Annie was bold, quirky, and made up of nothing but true grit. more
A gift from a friend, this story chronicles the somewhat amazing journey of a single woman who rode a horse from Maine to California. One woman, one horse (although a second was eventually added), and one dog, determined to reach the Pacific Ocean after "Annie" was given the sad information she likely had limited time left to live. A true story, it shows how much our world has changed since this journey was undertaken. I assumed Annie would spend many nights in the elements, struggling to survive and likely miserable. In contrast, she spent very few nights this way, as the world set out to meet, greet, and treat her. more
This was a true story about the cross country trip on horseback by 63 year old Annie Wilkins and her dog in the mid 1950's. I found it crazy and naive that she thought she could just ride a horse across the US without any real provisions like food and money, no plans to stay anywhere along the way, or what she would do to survive once she reached California. It was amazing how many people offered her a hot meal and shelter for her animals - I think the fact that she was an older woman, traveling alone in the 1950's, caused people to be more concerned about her well being than if she was a man knocking on their door at night, asking for a place to sleep. Annie met some famous people and became famous herself, once her story was published as a human interest in local newspapers. She got numerous job offers and even an offer of marriage. more
Annie Wilkins sets off on horseback for a year and a half long cross-country journey in 1954 with few dollars, no maps and little 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. more
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALMOST EVERYONE. I am in awe of this book, Annie Wilkins, and even the time period. The early 1950s, when America was still unafraid to trust, loved an adventure, and wasn't glued to electronic devices. TV still wasn't as popular as it would get later in that decade. As it says in the synopsis, this was an adventure of a 63-year-old woman, her horse (soon to be two horses), and her dog. more
Although more than a bit preachy, this non-fictional narrative of one brave poor woman’s trek across the US on horseback in the mid 1950’s was totally absorbing to me, a lover of geography and culture of the era. In the next decade, as a teenager, I traveled also without family on a greyhound bus for almost 3 days to visit close relatives in Los Angeles taking copious notes of firsts I saw from that comfortable bus seat, unlike Annie who had daily and unforeseen challenges lasting over a year…. Much kudos to the author for all of her challengingly research to tell this heartwarming narrative. And, of course to the amazing lady she wrote about. 4 and 1/2 stars rounded up. more
I did not like the style of writing in this book which felt more like fiction then non-fiction. How could the author have known what Annie was thinking at the time. Apparently there is a book written supposedly by Annie herself called "Last of the Saddle Tramps" and a documentary. Maybe I would have better luck with one of those. Arrr. more
Disclaimer: ARC via a giveaway on Librarything. Even today, a woman crossing America on a horse with just a dog for company would be a story. Jackass Annie - or Annie Wilkins to be more exact, did this in the 1950s. She wanted to see California before she died. Elizabeth Letts’ new installment in history of the horse world book (look, I just made that up. more
I was looking forward to reading this book but was disappointed that it read more like a novel. I personally do not enjoy books that are based on true life experiences that are written in this manner as the author does not know what the people were thinking, etc. It is not for me. Annie Wilkins wrote her own book, “Last of the Saddle Tramps”, about her journey and many people have shared that they truly enjoyed her book. It is an extremely difficult book to find, but when I do, I plan on reading it. more
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. more
I was so intrigued with this book, which is a true story. In 1954 (which caught my eye, as it is the year of my birth), Annie Wilkins (at age 63, so also a "woman of a certain age"), left her farm in Maine to ride a horse to California. Her mother had always wished to see the sunset in California, but have never made it there. Annie, who had had a health scare the previous year, yet had recovered to work her meager farm alone, raising cucumbers for a pickle factory, simply saw no real future in her life as it was. What did she have to lose. more
It's a compelling story but doesn't take clear prose forms. Not enough to portray a sense of continuity. The maps did. But telling portions of her younger life piecemeal throughout. It was not a best way to tell the journey, IMHO. more
Delightful true story of Annie Wilkins, an older woman in the 1950's who embarks on a journey on horseback from Vermont to California. Annie is diagnosed with TB and knows her life is coming to an end. With little money but a big desire to wander, she crosses the wonderful expanse of the United States with her horse, a trusty dog and most importantly supported by the good will of strangers along the way. Elizabeth Letts tells us her lovely story with a lot of context and color. Enjoyed this one a lot. more
So inspiring. This is a biography of Annie Wilkins who from 1954 through 1957 traveled on horseback from Maine to California. I was just two years old when she started her journey. Until reading this book I'd never heard of her before. Forgotten history. more
Here is an excellent read for Women's History Month: Annie Wilkins was 63 when she began her journey. She had been given 2-4 years to live. Despite the lack of a planned route, she pointed her horse south and left her farm behind. As Elizabeth Letts tells Annie's story, we also get a snapshot of our country in 1956. Along the way, there were many clues to the new normal that was making itself known. more
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. more