Save 36%
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America -- Elizabeth Letts, Hardcover
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America -- Elizabeth Letts, Hardcover
Regular price
$18.99
Sale price
$18.99
Regular price
$30.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Available in stock
The triumphant 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 "The gift Elizabeth Letts has is that she makes you feel you are the one taking this trip. This is a book we can enjoy always but especially need now."--Elizabeth Berg, author of The Story of Arthur Truluv
In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor's advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads; she didn't even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956, the three travelers pushed through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at terrifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles, through America's big cities and small towns. Along the way, she met ordinary people and celebrities--from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers--a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled, when television's influence was expanding fast, when homeowners began locking their doors, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.
Author: Elizabeth Letts
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 06/01/2021
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780525619321
Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2021
Publishers Weekly 04/26/2021
Booklist 05/01/2021 pg. 9
Library Journal 06/01/2021 pg. 124
In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor's advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads; she didn't even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956, the three travelers pushed through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at terrifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles, through America's big cities and small towns. Along the way, she met ordinary people and celebrities--from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers--a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled, when television's influence was expanding fast, when homeowners began locking their doors, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.
Author: Elizabeth Letts
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 06/01/2021
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780525619321
Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2021
Publishers Weekly 04/26/2021
Booklist 05/01/2021 pg. 9
Library Journal 06/01/2021 pg. 124
About the Author
Elizabeth Letts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, which won the 2017 PEN Center USA Literary Award for research nonfiction, as well as the novel Finding Dorothy. A lifelong horsewoman, she lives in Southern California and Northern Michigan.
Payment & Security
Payment methods
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.
