The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal (TLC Book Tours)

 

Title:  The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

Author:  Barbara O’Neal

Narrated by:  Andi Arndt

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Thank-you to Lake Union Publishing for a review copy of the paperback book as part of the TLC Book Tour and thank-you to @netgalley for audiobook review copy.

How do you communicate with friends?  Emails, texts, social media, or old-fashioned letters?  I would say all the above for myself.

Victoria is going through a divorce.  She and her husband had seemed closer than ever until he ended it all for a much younger woman.  Fifty and suddenly alone, Victoria must get a job fast to survive. She gets a job as a companion to Mariah, a young woman with an injury who is going to travel the world tracing the footsteps of her mother’s last unfinished project in London, Paris, Morocco, and India.  Her mother, Rachel, was a good writer, and she also left behind letters she had written her sister.  As Victoria and Mariah make their journey, they learn more about Rachel and themselves.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The audiobook had a good narrator and was interesting to listen to.

·       I liked Victoria’s character growth throughout the novel.

·       I really disliked Victoria’s ex-husband.  He seemed to want his cake (new younger wife) and eat it too (keep his ex-wife on string.).  I kept wondering why he didn’t get in trouble for not paying his alimony.

·       Why can’t Victoria’s family change their tradition of skiing every year as a family so that Victoria gets to have a family Christmas at least every other year?  It’s strange to me that this is a family tradition since Victoria doesn’t ski or snowboard.

·       Rachel was killed in a mas shooting while grocery shopping with her daughter.  Mariah survived but can no longer snowboard (she was an Olympian) with her handicap.  The PTSD from this tragic even still impacts Mariah.

·       A handsome middle-aged photographer, Henry, accompanies them on the trip.  He is a father figure for Mariah (one of Rachel’s ex-boyfriends), and a love interest for Victoria.

·       I liked how both Victoria and Mariah had a coming-of-age storyline as they came to terms with their new realities and worked towards moving forward with new dreams.

·       I loved the descriptions of all the different countries, foods, and cafes.

·       I didn’t see how the cafes, countries, and Rachel’s story were all linked until the very end.

·       I am close to Victoria’s age of fifty and she gets picked on by her kids for being old and treated as an old lady a lot on their trip.  I suddenly felt very old!!

Overall, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal was a great story with unforgettable characters, growth, and travel.  I enjoyed it!