The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book: 

The Ride of Her Life:

The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last Chance Journey Across America

by Elizabeth Letts

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: June 1, 2021

Page Count: 337 pages

Summary: 

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.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

In November 1954, Annie took her dog and got on a horse and started riding. Destination: California. From a modern perspective, her journey seems almost bewildering—imagine trying to navigate without the benefit of GPS, to travel with no cellphone, no credit or debit card, not even a bank account to draw from. In fact, when she first set off, Annie didn’t even have the kinds of tools that were available in 1954: road maps, a flashlight and batteries, a waterproof raincoat. Annie headed south, a Quixote in the company of her Rocinante, a run-down ex-racehorse, and her Sancho Panza, a little mutt. Society has called these people by different names: vagabonds and drifters, pilgrims, hoboes, and hippies. She called herself a tramp.

Letts, Elizabeth. The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Annie fed Tarzan and fastened two blankets over him to keep him warm. Depeche Toi was so tired that he settled his nose on his paws and fell asleep. She had to wake him up to feed him. After they’d all eaten, she stretched her bedroll out and lay down under the stars, and fell sound asleep. 

Sometime later, she was awakened by the low sound of Depeche Toi’s growl. 

“Keeping holding that dog,” a man’s voice called out. “We’re officers of the law.” 

Annie held tight to Depeche Toi, who didn’t stop growling. “We have the owner’s permission to be here,” she called out, her voice unsteady.

Letts, Elizabeth. The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America (p. 56). Kindle Edition.  

The Ride of Her Life is our book club selection for May.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

If you designed a cover for a beloved book, how would it look, and how would it reflect the story? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer) 

I'm working on the cover for my own book, the story of the summer I spent at Yellowstone Park in 1975. It will have elements of that summer---hiking, playing guitar, a bear, the natural wonders of Yellowstone, and the last remnants of the hippie days of the 60s and early 70s.