“The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth” by Barbara O’Neal is a story about two women who journey across London, Paris, Morocco and India, as they work on a writing project. The novel is beautifully written and made me want to try some of the wonderful foods that they mention in the story. There is great character development and a little love story included as well. This novel isn’t really fast-paced, but I truly enjoyed the story!
Veronica Barrington is recently divorced and looking for direction in her life. Mariah Ellsworth is a former Olympic snowboarder, recovering from a horrific leg injury and still reeling from the death of her mother, Rachel. (Rachel was a well-known writer of food books.) Mariah decides to work on her mother’s unfinished project – a book about Parsi cafes and their food and culture. (Parsi cafes feature Persian/Indian foods and have a special cultural ambiance.) Mariah hires Veronica as her companion and assistant researcher and they begin their travels, along with Henry, a talented photographer. The three discover wonderful foods to sample on their travels, but more importantly, they try to heal from past traumas. Both Veronica and Mariah are grieving and they begin to discover new ways to move on from the past. Mariah’s mother wrote letters to her sister while she visited Parsi cafes several decades ago, and those letters are a big part of the story also.
“The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth” is a little bit of a travel guide, a little bit of a mystery and a little bit of a journey through grief, friendship and healing. I really disliked Veronica’s ex-husband and her children were very self-centered, but those issues kind of showed how Veronica catered to them in her past. I was glad to see her grow and become more independent! This book felt really relevant to today’s world and I hope some of you check it out!
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