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Book: The Ride of Her Life
Author: Elizabeth Letts
Review by: Jorge Fernandez, consultant at The Pendleton Group, retired U.S. Air Force pilot and former vice president for global commerce at the Metro Atlanta Chamber
This book relays the true story of Annie Wilkins, a woman who at 63 rode her horse on a journey across the United States from Maine to California in 1954. The journey fulfilled her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean.
After losing her farm, Wilkins ignores her doctor’s advice to move into a charity home, and instead buys a gelding horse named Tarazan and heads across the country, accompanied by her faithful dog, Depeche Toi — a French name given by Annie’s neighbor’s boys.
Her farm is located very close to the Quebec border of Maine. The book is a story of an epic journey where we meet ordinary people and adverse weather conditions and come close to vivid, back-road landmarks not often experienced by travelers on today’s interstate highways.
Moreover, it is a recount of a landscape of the post-war U.S. countryside during a period of migration from rural America to the suburbs. I came across this title from a book club at our new residence condo in Denver.
I thought the title would be of interest to Global Atlanta readers because it provides a nostalgic view of an era that transformed our nation, with profound implications both internally and internationally.
The book moreover presents itself as a respite from present-day uncertainties, again both at home and abroad. The Ride of Her Life is an escape, a vivid narrative that is hard to put down.
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Editor’s notes: Global Atlanta will receive a 10 percent commission on any purchase of this book through the links on this page.
Each year, Global Atlanta asks influential readers and community leaders to review the most impactful book they read during the course of the year. This endeavor has continued annually since 2010.
See last year’s full list of books on BookShop here, and all 2022 reader picks here.
All books were chosen and reviews written independently, with only mild editing from our staff.