The bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse returns with another uplifting story of horses and determination. Letts narrates the tale of Annie Wilkins. In 1954, after being diagnosed with terminal tuberculosis, the 63-year-old Mainer "took her dog and got on a horse" and rode all the way to California. In the small town of Minot, Wilkins had lived in poverty on the family farm, with no electricity or running water. After her uncle died and she received her grim prognosis, which rendered her unable to look after the farm, she decided to live out a childhood dream to "see the Pacific Ocean at least once in my life." She used most of the money she got from selling the family farm to buy Tarzan, a horse destined for the slaughterhouse, and set out for California, leading her beloved small mutt, Depeche Toi, on a clothesline leash. Newspaper reporters transformed her into a celebrity whose story brightened the lives of Americans living through the nightmare of the McCarthy era and earned her the gift of a companion horse for Tarzan named Rex from a small Tennessee community. In 1955, she appeared on Art Linkletter's popular TV show People Are Funny. "Linkletter," writes the author, "immediately understood Annie's essential Americanness: her authority came precisely from the fact that her journey was neither choreographed nor staged. Here was a woman who was doing something just because she wanted to do it." This engaging folk-hero biography, which follows Wilkins throughout her grand adventure, also touches on the cultural history of mid-20th-century America. As Letts delves into the postwar prosperity that transformed the U.S. into a land of cars and endless highways, she celebrates the dying tradition of the "American tramp or hobo" that Wilkins, the self-christened "Last of the Saddle Tramps," represented. A heartwarming and nostalgic book to appeal to horse lovers and fans of the author's previous books. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Equestrian Letts (author of best-sellers The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion) has documented another fascinating, little-known slice of history. In November 1954, Annie Wilkins left Maine for California, traveling on her horse Tarzan and with her dog Depeche Toi in tow. Selling postcards for a meager income, Wilkins relied on the generosity of people she met along the route. A little over a year and 7,000 miles later, she arrived in northern California. As Wilkins and her story traveled across the United States, she charmed people with her humility, gratitude, and wit, often becoming a local celebrity in the cities she visited. Charting Wilkins's journey, Letts explores changes in the infrastructure, economy, and cultural landscape of the United States during the mid-20th century. Letts relies on extensive primary sources, including Wilkins's memoir The Last of the Saddle Tramps, and includes maps to help readers trace the journey on their own. VERDICT Skillful prose and meticulous research combine to create a rich narrative and captivating character portraits of both Annie Wilkins and the people and places of the 1950s. Considering the popularity of her other nonfiction titles, the latest by Letts is likely to be on many hold lists.--Meagan Storey, Virginia Beach

Letts (The Perfect Horse) inspires in this miraculous true story of one woman's trek from Maine to California on horseback. In November of 1954, after a health scare revealed she only had four years to live, 63-year-old Annie Wilkins bought a horse, grabbed her dog, and left her tiny hometown to ride west. Along the way, she went viral--at least by 1950s standards--thanks to an AP reporter who found out she was meeting the governor of Idaho. On her journey, Wilkins slept in police stations and the homes of kind strangers; charmed famed American artist Andrew Wyeth; was hosted by a small-town sheriff in Tennessee; acquired a second horse (but lost him to tetanus); rode in the country's largest rodeo; and nearly drowned in a flash flood. She crossed California's state line in the late afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 26, 1955, and, blowing past her doctor's projections, lived to be 88. Letts's attention to detail and clear admiration of her "funny, quirky, and bold" subject light up the narrative and make it hard to put down. This story has it all: bravery, determination, and a whole lot of heart. (June)

Penniless, homeless, and given a dire health prognosis at 63, Annie Wilkins set out to do the one thing she'd always wanted to do, see the Pacific Ocean. In late fall 1954, she loaded up her new Morgan horse, Tarzan, and with her faithful dog Depeche Toi headed south and west away from her home in rural Maine. In this era before cell phones, GPS, and credit cards, Wilkins would rely on her wits or die trying. She battled blizzards and floods, icy bridges and arid deserts and received acts of kindness from strangers who emerged at just the right moment with a meal, a bed, or a stable for Tarzan. This was during the heyday of local journalism and word of Wilkins' unusual odyssey not only preceded her from town to town but also garnered national attention. In describing the road conditions, towns, and people, including celebrities, Wilkins encountered on her four-thousand-mile journey, Letts creates a nostalgic travelogue and a vibrant history of life in 1950s America. Thanks to deeply sourced research and her own travels along Wilkins' route, Letts vividly portrays an audacious woman whose optimism, courage, and good humor are to be marveled at and admired. Upbeat and touching, Wilkins' story is the perfect pandemic escapist read.