Some books don’t just tell a story, they carry you with them. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth isn’t just a novel. It’s a passport, a diary, and a mirror, folded into one.

It’s about grief, but not the loud kind. It’s about the quiet ache that sneaks into the in-between moments. It’s about love but not the romanticized, glossy version. Love here is layered, worn down, rebuilt. And most of all, it’s about rediscovery, not of some big secret, but of yourself.

Veronica and Mariah don’t just go on a journey across continents, they go through something much more difficult: the unpacking of emotional luggage that doesn’t fit neatly into overhead compartments. One is running from a marriage that left her hollow. The other is limping through the wreckage of a dream that once defined her. Both are chasing a woman’s voice, Rachel’s, whose final letters become less like breadcrumbs and more like lifelines.

And as they sip chai in a corner of Mumbai, or follow the smoky scent of spice in a Parsi café, there’s this quiet pulse in the background, a question that follows them everywhere: What do we owe to the people we’ve lost? And what, if anything, do we owe to ourselves?

O’Neal’s writing is as immersive as the journey itself. It’s a warm breeze in Morocco, a drizzle in Paris, the hum of grief in a hotel room far from home. Her characters aren’t here to entertain. They’re here to unravel. And as they do, you’ll feel it. Because you’ve either been them, or you will be.

There’s no twist to wait for. No shocking finale. The reward is in the becoming. In the small, human moments. In the way we survive things we thought would break us, and how sometimes it takes someone else’s unfinished story to begin writing our own.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, lost, tired, or on the edge of your next chapter, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth might be the letter you didn’t know you were waiting for.

The story begins, as so many of this author’s stories do, with two women of different generations at separate but equally tumultuous crossroads in their lives, going on an unexpected journey together that takes them through dark places towards the light of understanding, healing and hope.

Veronica Barrington’s dream of a perfect life was shattered not long after the pandemic ended and things were supposed to be back to “normal”. The husband she had loved, adored and most of all supported, dove deep into his midlife crisis, married a younger woman and started a new family. All the while expecting Veronica to continue to back him up and support him, while still catering to his every whim. Including the occasional booty call.

It’s not a surprise that she breaks – although it is a bit of a surprise that she throws bricks through the windows of the house they used to share when she does. She’s still paying for that breakage in more ways than one.

But Spence-the-ex expects Veronica to give him a pass on spousal support because his new family and old house situation is more expensive than he thought. She needs a job.

Which is where Mariah Ellsworth – and her late mother Rachel – come into the picture. Mariah’s life was shattered into actual, literal pieces when a crazed gunman opened fire in a grocery store, killing Mariah’s mother Rachel and pulverizing the bones in one of Mariah’s legs. Doctors were able to save the leg, but Mariah’s career as an Olympic snowboarder and all the life plans that went with that career are gone.

And the lack of hope and especially purpose are eating Mariah alive. She’s clinging to the idea of taking Rachel’s last and very loose set of notes for her next foodie-and-travel bestseller and finishing the project herself. That project is the knot in Mariah’s rope and she’s clinging to it with everything she has left.

Even though she’s not at all sure what her mother intended OR, and more importantly, how she’ll manage the six-week long globetrotting trip from her home in Denver to London, Paris, Marrakech and finally India on her mother’s quest to explore the Parsi cafe culture and cuisine that spans those four cities.

Mariah needs a companion for her trip – for more than the physical and more than she’s willing to acknowledge. Veronica needs a job. Mariah needs to grieve her mother AND figure out what the focus of the rest of her life is going to be. Veronica needs to get away from home for the holidays as the family traditions she once held so dear and supported with so much time and energy no longer include her. And she, too, needs to figure out the focus for her own life. In her early 50s, Veronica has plenty of life left to live – a life that can’t revolve around her adult children, no matter how much she loves them – and vice versa.

So they set out, together, on the adventure of a lifetime. Or, the adventure of the lifetime they each have yet to figure out.

Escape Rating A-: This turned out to be a single-sitting read for me. Which is exactly what I was expecting as I’ve read several of the author’s books and they all hit a kind of sweet spot that just works. My personal favorites, until now, have been This Place of Wonder and Write My Name Across the Sky and this book has just been added to that list.

The elements of the story are deceptively simple, a young woman and a woman in midlife, each forced to start over, each grieving a past that is irrevocably gone, tied together not by birth family but by necessity, forging a relationship out of that necessity, solving whatever dark knot is holding each of them to the past and eventually winning forward into a brighter present AND future.

In other words, these are stories about the stages of life – even if those lives get to travel through some beautiful and fascinating places along their way. Still, the dilemmas faced by Veronica and Mariah are easy to identify with and that’s part of the charm of the story.

As are the people and places they meet along the way. (And I admit that I got especially caught up in this particular story because the first cafe they visit, Dishoom in London, is a very real place I visited this time last year and had one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in my whole life.)

At the same time, the quest holds the story together, Not just the deep dive into Rachel Ellsworth’s past that made this particular journey so necessary and so poignant, but also the memories of her own past that it sparks in Veronica, and the knowledge that comes to Mariah about the events that shaped the mother she loved.

In the end, this was absolutely the right book at the right time for me – and I didn’t even recognize THAT until I was deeply into the story. I identified hard with Veronica, but Mariah’s situation of broken plans, lost dreams and derailed life expectations hit equally hard – as did her unwillingness to confront her own demons until they nearly overwhelmed her.

If you’re a reader who enjoyed stories of relationships of all types, mixed with a bit of heartbreak and sad fluff but ultimately heartwarming-ness that let you leave the story with a smile on your face, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a gem.

This is my first O’Neal book, I enjoyed it but definitely didn’t love it. I found some parts to be very slow moving.

This beautifully written book is about healing and friendship. The two main characters are completely different from each other and the author showed their transformation from strangers to friends. Along with a great plot and great characters, this book is also about travel and food. Plus there's a bit of romance and a bit of a mystery that made this one of my favorite books so far this year.

Veronica is a fiftyish year old mother of three college age kids who has just gone through a difficult divorce. She is struggling with money and with adapting to the changes in her life. Christmas is coming up and she knows that her children will be with their father and is really dreading the holidays. When looking for a job, she sees an ad from someone who is looking for a travel companion. Mariah is a young Olympian who is trying to adjust to the horrific injury that ended her Olympic dreams. She is also dealing with the loss of her mother. Her mother was a well known food critic who had started to do research for her next book about Parsi cafes when she died. Mariah decides to try to finish her mother's last project but knows that she needs help. Veronica is thrilled at the chance to get away from her family issues over the holidays. Despite the differences between the two woman, they decide that it will be beneficial to both of them to travel together with Veronica being the paid companion. At first it looks like it's going to be a rough trip because the two women are so different from each other, but very gradually, they begin to rely on each other and become friends. They both have to learn to free themselves from the past and look for happiness and fulfillment in their futures. Together, far from home, they can find the light.

The author does such a fantastic job of describing the various places that the characters travel to - London, Paris, Marrakech, and India - that it's easy to feel like you are traveling with them. There's lots of fantastic descriptions about the food in each location that made me want to book a trip. If you enjoy travel and foodie fiction, this is a novel that you don't want to miss.

This is a rarity, but I went in completely blind and given the cover and title just assumed it was historical fiction. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was, in fact, a work of literary fiction with significant focus on travel, culture and food.

The book follows two main characters, Veronica and Mariah. Veronica is a 50-something mother of 3 grown children whose family has just fallen apart after her husband of 20+ years has left her for a younger woman. Mariah is a 25 year old winter Olympian who has recently suffered the loss of her mother and a career-ending injury. After her mother, Rachel's death, she finds some information about her mum's next food-writing experience; researching Parsi cafes. In following the leads, Mariah embarks on a quest to England, France, Morocco and India to discover a previous life of Rachel's that very few people were aware of. She hires Veronica as a companion to help with her bags, note taking and other odd jobs. But soon they discover the information they are following is not what they anticipated, and Mariah's unresolved grief and PTSD adds another layer to complexity to the task.

I really enjoyed the descriptive language of the travel and food. It felt like I was right there with them as they walked and ate their way around these countries. But I found the letters to be a bit of a background feature to the book. They informed some of the trip as certain things got revealed, but I felt there could have been better ways to reveal that information. The letters literally got emailed to them during the trip, I was hoping for them to inform all the clues and be a key feature, but the trip had already been planned prior to the letters being read by Mariah, a letdown for me. The characters were, however, well formed and I loved the found family elements and the ways Veronica and Mariah grew throughout their journey. Side character, Henry is also a great addition to the cast.

If you are interested in a travel and food-focused novel written with a character driven narrative, this may be right up your alley!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars)

Barbara O’Neal has such a gift for writing emotionally rich stories, and The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is no exception. This novel is equal parts mystery, healing journey, and quiet reflection on identity, grief, and second chances.

The story follows Mariah Ellsworth, a former Olympic snowboarder reeling from the loss of her career and her mother. She hires Veronica Barrington, a recently divorced empty-nester, to help her piece together her late mother’s unfinished writing project. What starts as a work trip becomes a soul-searching adventure across continents, forcing both women to confront their pasts, reshape their stories, and make room for unexpected hope. Add in Henry, a charming photographer with baggage of his own, and you’ve got a trio that’s messy, real, and completely compelling.

What I really loved was how O’Neal writes characters who feel like real people, flawed, complex, and growing. The way Mariah and Veronica help each other heal without even realizing it at first was beautiful. Their friendship felt earned and genuine. And of course, O’Neal’s writing is just gorgeous- poetic without being overdone, full of sensory detail that brings each setting to life.

If you enjoy character-driven stories with heart, a touch of mystery, and beautifully written relationships, this one’s absolutely worth picking up.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an amazing, beautifully written book. It's so descriptive and made me feel like I was there. It started in Colorado and the main characters traveled to London, Paris, Morocco and India. The book engaged all my senses, with descriptions of scenery, food, ingredients, many different kinds of relationships. I really didn't want this book to end and will be on the lookout for the next book by this author.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is the kind of book I count on reading written by Barbara O'Neal. Strong women at the heart of it but also a uniquely intriguing story as well. She has outdone herself with this novel. This is the story of travel companion, Veronica Barrington and injured Mariah Ellsworth who wishes to follow her late mother’s journey to find healing and some answered questions.

Wonderfully written with beautiful scenic descriptions. It is not a story of endings as much as it is a story of new beginnings. Such an emotional and intense story of the two women at different ages with different changes in their lives. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is women’s fiction at its best, highly recommend.

An absolutely fabulous premise, that unfortunately did not live up to its potential. I found the plot very difficult to follow and the characters lacked any sort of redeeming qualities-it was a chore to finish it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-Arc for an honest review. I really enjoyed this. The main character gets left by her long time husband and has to find a job and start over in life. She ends up helping a girl going on a trip to do research on a book her mother who died was working on. There’s some romance woven in and heart warming found family.

This was a great and entertaining read that I finished in a few hours.
A well written story that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
The characters draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
They are realistic and very well developed.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself hooked, turning the pages.

Veronica is a middle-aged woman whose life was rocked by a sudden divorce. She has 3 grown children and is struggling to make ends meet.

Mariah is a young woman who was severely injured and is trying to rebuild her life after the loss of her mother, Rachel.

These two, very different women, travel to London, Paris, Morocco and India, re-tracing Rachel's steps and solving a mystery from years ago, in the process.

An older fellow, Henry, who is a father-figure to Mariah, joins them as a photographer to document their journey. He adds a nice touch to the story.

I have to say, I could relate to Veronica quite a lot, since I am much the same age as her and have some of the same issues with my kids. I don't think I would be brave enough to go to all those countries with someone I don't really know, although her doing so was the making of her. I found myself REALLY disliking Veronica's ex, so the author did a good job with his characterisation!

Fabulous story, and I enjoyed that the two women had such a personal growth journey as a result of their travels and their interactions with each other, even if it was hard to read sometimes as well.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

I enjoyed all the travel and description in this book, as the author made you feel like you were right there with the characters throughout their adventures. However, for me, one of the main characters was so unlikable that I almost didn’t want to finish the book. Overall, a good read but not my favorite.

Wow! I really enjoy Barbara O'Neal and her stories. Veronica is going through a lot of trauma. Her husband of over 20 years trades her in for a younger model. She loses her fairy-tale life, struggles with money and abundant anger issues. Mariah deals with a harrowing event in her own life. The Mariah needs a companion on a overseas trip and Veronica needs a job. The two women, so different, yet both dealing with building new lives. As they travel to London, Paris, Marrakesh, and India, the women form a bond and unknowingly, help each other to overcome.

I loved this book. I could hardly put it down. Veronica's ex is a jerk and her children are doing nothing to help her. Mariah tries to deny her past and suffers PTSD. I love how the women learn about each other and themselves and they start this quest to complete Rachel's (Mariah's mother) book.

Great story, very engaging.

A heartfelt, beautifully written story about grief, healing, and connection. Veronica and Mariah’s journey guided by Rachel Ellsworth’s final lettersunfolds across stunning locations and rich food culture. I loved the emotional depth and the bond that grows between the women. While a late romantic subplot didn’t fully click for me, the overall message of finding purpose after loss was deeply moving. A lovely, soul-soothing read.

This was such a descriptive book. I felt like I was following Veronica, Mariah and Henry as they went from one eatery to the next. The food and drinks all sounded so good. It’s a bit of an emotional story, you can’t help but feel for both women. It’s another good book by this author.

Recently and abruptly divorced Veronica Barrington is anxious for a new direction when she answers a listing for a travel companion. It’s from Mariah Ellsworth, a young woman adjusting to an injury that ended her Olympic career. She’s also grieving her mother, Rachel, a lauded food writer, and Mariah aims to trace the steps of her mother’s final, unfinished project so she can heal and also honor the woman she misses.

Veronica seizes on the opportunity to experience with Mariah the culture, traditions, and intoxicating aromas of Parsi cafés throughout London, Paris, Morocco, and India. Accompanied by a former war photographer who has a wounded history of his own, and with just Rachel’s letters to guide them, the quest is a chance to not only close a chapter in life but also begin a new one.

Following the letters one by one—each a clue to an illuminating mystery—Veronica and Mariah must face the painful and beautiful challenges of freeing themselves from the dark shadows of the past. Together, far from home, they can find the light.

I think this is my third book by Ms. O'Neal and I don't think I have a favorite as they were all written beautifully. Your heart breaks and then mends for each character and while your crying, she sneaks in a twist or tidbit of information that keeps you guessing or wondering until the last page. In my opinion, Ms. O"Neal is the queen of book hangovers-you are spent and foggy but it was worth the fun!!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful writing and captivating scenes are what really got me to like The Last Letter Of Rachel Ellsworth. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mariah and Veronica are dealing with different types of loss. Mariah recently lost her mother and is also dealing with an accident that left her with mobility issues. Veronica lost her home, her husband, and her family when he husband decided to leave her for a student.
Together, they embark on a beautiful journey of healing, friendship, learning how to cope, and identity. The atmosphere and the sites were breathtaking. Now Mariah and Veronica are very flawed, and they will annoy you, but that's their journey, and I was happy to be there right along.

Thank you, Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing, for this ARC. All opinions are entirely my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Wonderful author, well-written and beautiful. My heart broke for Mariah.

DNFd at 50 percent.

I thought I was going to love this - family drama, chosen family, people getting through adversity. Instead it became very repetitious, very quickly. The backstory is fed to the reader like a memory game - you know, the one where you sit in a circle and say "I went to the shop and got" and each player repeats all the previous items and adds one. The letters felt like quite artificial information dumps. To slow things down even further the characters are going to cafes (that is an important part of the plot) and then we read endlessly about what they ordered and what they ate. At 50 percent I remembered that finishing books is not compulsory. At that point it felt like I knew where the plot was going to go. I skipped to the end to see if it got twistier and found that, no it went exactly as I expected.