Part travelogue, part food history, part friendship and found family.

Two women - Mariah and Veronica - are thrown together travelling through Parsi food culture when Veronica agrees to work as Mariah’s travelling companion, as they finish Rachel’s (Mariah’s mum) unfinished food book.

Mariah and Veronica are both grieving the lives they’ve lost and people they’ve lost and follow Rachel’s letters to her sister from the 1990’s which, letter by letter, unfold the mystery as to why her unfinished book is about Parsi food and cafe’s. We follow their journey through England, Paris, Morocco and finally India.

This was my first read of Barbara O’Neal - and it definitely won't be my last. A very very solid 4 star read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Barbara O"Neal writes like nobodies business. I don't know how she puts them out so quickly.

That said, this one, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is at the top of my favorites by the author.

Two women, so different in most ways, travel to finish a book that Mariah's mom started to write, but died before she could do so. Mariah is recovering from a severe injury, and she hired a companion, around her mom's age, to help her maneuver the travel.

Veronica is facing all the life changes: a crappy and selfish ex husband, grown kids, trying to figure out her new life, and more.

Mariah is prickly, but understandably so. The two forge a path that could leave them both in a better place than they started.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheLastLetterOfRachelEllsworth #LakeUnionPublishing #BarbaraONeal #NetGalley

Barbara O’Neal never disappoints!
Her characters and settings are always richly layered and complicated.
An excellent storyline about two women beginning their lives again after unexpected circumstances derail them. One clearly needs nurturing after losing her mother and enduring a tragic accident, the other needs purpose after her marriage dissolves and her children seem to be in their own self-centered worlds.
Add in exotic travel, great food, and some romance and you have a novel to lose yourself in while you soak up all the experiences the characters have along the way.
Great read!

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is Barbara O’Neal’s best book since When We Were Mermaids.
Spanning four continents, it follows the journey of two women, both grieving a loss, as they seek answers to a mystery through old letters and a writer’s notes.

Mariah Ellsworth, a former athlete whose career was unexpectedly cut short, still suffers emotional and physical damage. To honor her deceased mother, Rachel, a food writer, she decides to finish her mother’s last book, about Parsi cafes. To help her, Mariah hires as a travel companion, Veronica, a middle aged woman, who is unmoored after the abrupt and unwanted end of her long term marriage. Utilizing Rachel’s notes, they plan to visit cafes in Europe, Morocco, and India, but along the way a mystery involving Rachel develops. This fuels the women’s desire to complete the quest, despite their physical and emotional setbacks along the way.
Accompanying them on the odyssey is Henry, a retired war photographer, with his own history.

O’Neal’s descriptions of the food and of the sights, sounds and scents of each city immerses the reader with a strong sense of place.
Filled with rich and complex characters, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is part travelogue, part mystery, part romance and completely a great read.

The newest great read by Barbara O’Neal! I always love how she can suck me into the story with characters, plot, food, and travel. I learned alot in this book, too- referencing culture and dishes. I love the idea of overseas destinations woven throughout the book. So many things I want to explore a bit more after this read. The relationships between parents and adult children hit home for me too. Really enjoyed this early release edition of the Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth. Thank you to the publishing company for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I always enjoy books from this author and this one is no exception. We have two female characters, not mother and daughter, although they are from different generations. There is travel to some fabulous and exotic places I had never considered that I'd like to visit and now I am rethinking that, if for no other reason than the food descriptions are out of this world. There is a mystery to solve and perhaps a romance, but there is definitely love. Of all kinds.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for my advance copy.

This is a poignant story of new friends who end up feeling like family. When Virginia’s husband leaves her for a younger woman, she loses her home as well as her beloved garden. Her three children are grown, and she finds herself barely surviving financially. She responds to a job posting for a travel companion. Mariah Ellsworth, a former Olympian, having won two silver, and one bronze medal in snowboarding is now recovering, slowing, from a trauma that took place in a grocery story with her mother. A shooter in the store began shooting randomly, killing her mother and wounding Mariah with three bullets; one that shattered her leg, ending her Olympian career and left her suffering from PTSD.
Mariah’s mother, Rachel had been a popular food writer, and Mariah sets out to finish her mother’s final project. Knowing she needs help with such an extensive travel schedule; to include London, Paris, Morocco and India, she hires Veronica to accompany her and to actually also do the writing. The only clue they have regarding visiting and writing about the culture and history of Parsi cafes, and food, are letters Rachel wrote to her sister.
As Veronica and Mariah embark on this fascinating journey around the world, following Rachel’s letters, they encounter many new experiences with food and people, however, there are just as many ups and downs.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. Barbara O'Neal is a favorite author of mine; I love the characters and emotions that she creates within her books. This book was no different; her characters are honest, real and relatable and the stories are heart wrenching and heroic. While this was not my favorite book of hers, I do love her writing and will certainly read her next book.

3 stars

I usually like Barbara O'Neal's books. I appreciate that her main female characters are older and have had some life experience. However this one fell flat for me. Veronica was a sponge. She went from absorbing her ex-husband's life to absorbing Rachel Ellsworth's. What I found especially appalling was the way she let her ex-husband use and manipulate her and then financially ruin her. She was also a doormat in regards to her children.

Mariah was just a lot. As a mom, my heart ached for her - for all she lost, for how much she hurt. Sometimes, though, she was so hard to like. I also would have liked to have seen more of her story, more attention paid to the trauma she experienced and the epidemic our country is facing.

The writing itself was good. I love books with interesting scenery and this one certainly has that - London, Paris, Marrakesh, Mumbai, Bombay. Oh, and the food! I was googling all the exotic foods! My friends and I have recently started a blog/social media account called Read, Eat, Travel, Repeat and this book would hit all the marks. I just wish Veronica would have stood up for herself more and asserted what SHE wanted instead of settling for what others wanted. I also would have liked more resolution of Veronica's backstory.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the opportunity to read this digital ARC and look forward to reading more books by Ms. O'Neal in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal was a real treat to read. The premise for the novel was original. The writing smooth flowing. The characters were each their own self with no apologies. The multiple locations added a lot of depth to this book. Read and enjoy it will not disappoint. Thank you NetGalley.

I'm sorry to say this is my least favorite of Barbara O'Neal's books. It is a beautifully written book and has great descriptions of places they visited and the food they ate along the way. I didn't really connect with either of the female main characters and I felt like the story was lacking for me. I didn't find there to be much of a story other than traveling around and going to cafe's. It would've been better if we had more of a dual timeline with Moriah's mother's story and then the present day story. Overall it was just okay for me. I do love the author's writing and will certainly read her next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book for review.

This new offering from Barbara O’’Neal is a revelation. Still filled with the food descriptions and the memories and emotions that can be attached to food, and featuring something O’Neal does well - family, biological and created - I still had to keep reminding myself who the author was because it was also a travelogue of sorts, Swept through Paris, Marrakech, and India, the reader experiences the sights and sounds of each location, as the main characters visit Parsi cafes.. Though the coziness I often feel through O’Neal’s books was missing, the foodie experiences and the sensitive handling of how women deal with loss and trauma were right there. This may become my favorite by O’Neal - it feels like a growth experience.

Rounding up to a five; actual rating 4.5

What a beautiful story told through the eyes of two strong women with two different stories. Mariah who went through a mass shooting and lost her mom and Veronica who lost her marriage and life as she knew it. Both huge losses in such different ways . While both struggled the bond that formed between them was beautiful. I long to visit Morocco and India! I felt every emotion in this novel . Life isn’t always fair but it is what you make of it and while you are here you must live!

This book fiollows an Olympic athlete who suffered a terrible tragedy as she tries to finish her mom’s book and come to grips with her new reality and where to go from there. She suffers from major ptsd and anxiety throughout the book. The characters were very relatable. The story was set in several middle eastern countries and the scenery depicted was breathtaking. The book was very emotional and beautifully written.

There are numerous moments in this book. This book was so good that I couldn't stop reading it.

It's a story about two women who overcome past traumas and discover friendship. Veronica was hired to be a travel companion by Mariah, a former Olympian who's recovering from an individual injury. Mariah is also grieving for her mother Rachel. Veronica must go through a divorce.

They both, along with a male photographer, have to travel to four different countries. The reason for that is due to Rachel’s letters. Also, they're finishing what Rachel is doing.

Oh goodness. I just finished an advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley of The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth. I absolutely loved it. We meet Mariah, Veronica and Henry on a wonderful journey. Veronica is working as a companion to Mariah, and Henry is the photographer. But there is so much more than that. Each one is working through problems on their own, but they all come together as family. The words, the languages, the smells and flavors all combine to make an amazing story. Barbara O’Neal has told of a wonderful journey and I loved taking it with her. Five stars. Thank you NetGalley for an early read for my honest feedback.

I love books by Barbara O’Neal. Her latest, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth was an excellent book. I couldn’t put it down.

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is a heart-warming story of love, loss and the journey through grief. Veronica and Mariah may seem like opposites in every sense of the word but their shared grief brings them together as they search for answers left by Mariah’s late mother. This story brings together all the best parts of travel and light-hearted mystery that keeps you hooked until the very end.

Healing from past trauma is a journey that requires courage, patience and support; nobody knows that better than Mariah Ellsworth and Veronica Barrington.

These two broken women help each other reframe their narratives and reclaim agency. Mariah is grieving the loss of her Olympic snowboarding career and the loss of her mother, while Veronica is grieving the loss of her marriage and abrupt divorce while dealing with ‘empty nest’ syndrome. Both know that connecting with a supportive community will help them foster a sense of belonging and fulfillment, but they have little idea about how a multi-continent journey will impact them.

When Mariah feels compelled to finish her mother’s writing project and hires Veronica as an assistant, they inadvertently help each other build resistance, process their emotions, learn to forgive, and finally let go. When a photographer, Henry Spinuzza, joins them, this journey becomes a healing one for all three.

This is my third book by author Barbara O’Neal and I’ve come to realize that she really knows how to emotionally involve her readers and uses her well-honed writing skills to keep them turning pages. I love that she crafts her characters so that they aren’t defined solely by the trauma. This time, I got a sense of who Veronica was as a person outside of her family and who Mariah was when not labeled as an athlete or grieving. Furthermore, O’Neal’s use of dialogue and her characters’ body language mirror their experience and coping mechanisms.

This is a worthy read because O’Neal enriches her readers’ understanding of the human experience in an authentic and empathetic way. She delicately navigates the narrative landscape of trauma.

I was gifted this copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I received this ARC copy in exchange for a review:

London, Paris, India and food mixed with heartbreak and some mystery. What's not to love! ❤️ My favorite by Baraba O'Neal is still the Starfish Sisters but this was a solid enjoyable read.