In this, Elizabeth Letts’ third nonfiction book with horses playing a central role, we learn the remarkable story of Annie Wilkins. In 1954, at 62 years of age, Annie was coming to the end of her rope. Together with her only living relative, an uncle, she was barely subsisting on the tiny Minot, Maine, farm passed down to her by her mother. After her uncle died, she fought a losing battle to keep the farm afloat all by herself. The tax assessor won and she lost the farm, her home, and her livelihood. Even worse, a health crisis brought her to a doctor who told her that she had only a very few years left to live. As Annie grappled with the reality of her situation, she recalled the many times her mother had expressed a desire to see California and the Pacific Ocean. She became determined to reach the West Coast and the beautiful vistas that her mother had only hoped to see. This became her goal and her reason for being. With nothing left to lose, without resources or a car to get herself from Maine to California, and with time working against her, Annie could think of only one way to accomplish her goal before she died. She must buy a (cheap!) horse and make the journey on horseback. Never mind that it had been years since she had ridden a horse and that she had only the vaguest idea how to get to California from Maine on horseback. Compelled by her determination and her single-minded focus, she found her cheap horse and set out anyway, along with her faithful little dog. It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely trio. Wearing nearly every article of clothing she wore, Annie barely had room for herself atop the overloaded horse with all her worldly possessions piled every which way and dangling precariously by makeshift straps from the saddle. With all preparations made and nothing but fear to hold her back, Annie begins her journey naively ignorant of how monumental is the mission that she has undertaken. She caught the attention of the whole country when some enterprising journalists learned of her quest and began to publicize updates as she made her slow way across the country. Annie’s resilience and determination together with the heartwarming kindness of strangers along the way kept her going in spite of heartbreaking misfortunes and grueling challenges.
Drawing from Annie’s journals, old newspaper stories, and recollections by several of the strangers Annie encountered along the way, Elizabeth Letts has crafted another inspiring book lauding remarkable achievements by horses, as well as humans and dogs. This book should appeal to anyone who admires tales of “true grit.”
D. Lloyd
Dorcas Kelley