Torn between 3 and 4 stars I enjoyed the storyline and the insight into postpartum depression before it was known as such A very easy read I enjoyed but didn t love Ethel Mae s Last Ride I can honestly say this book was very slow for me But I did finally get into it And enjoyed reading it Ethel Mae s Last Ride To be completely honest there was a point early on in the book when I considered not finishing But then I kept going and needed to continue to see the story unfold Ethel Mae is going through life using the tools and coping mechanisms she was given which is what we all do in one way or another She is wise beyond her formal education and quite perceptive about the people she encounters along the way. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily Ethel Mae s Last Ride I ll be honest I struggled with this But there were times I really wanted to hug Ethel Mae it seemed she had been through so much But men didn t seem to want her or only for one thing like Charlie She loved to talk and ride the train What I did enjoy most was her ability to sum people up when she looked at them a very shrewd woman Ethel Mae s Last Ride From drinking and running away from her problems to finding redemption healing forgiveness and independence Ethel Mae s life takes a dramatic turn in 1950 as she embarks on her last train ride Facing yet another failed marriage despite harsh judgment from family and community she drops her children off at her mama s small mountain farm one last time because she plans to bring their daddy home During a train ride from the mountains of North Carolina bound for New York she reflects on and shares her miraculous birth mountain raising and tumultuous coming of age with fellow passengers She reminisces about her past family and community while seeking a new self empowered future in a trying time. But when she meets Charlie a mysterious troubled and all too handsome salesman she finds an expected friend and confidant As her uncertainty about her husband s return grows Ethel Mae must make difficult decisions that will shape her future Will she return home stay with Charlie or find a way to have both In this poignant and heartwarming tale you ll laugh and cry as you experience Ethel Mae s ride of life through the eyes of an aging woman She ll keep you on the edge until her ride comes to an end and she finds herself facing her final days alone having overcome her demons but at a significant cost For fans of heartwarming historical fiction Ethel Mae s Last Ride is a must read Southern fiction novel Don t miss out on this powerful emotional and bittersweet real life journey Ethel Mae s Last RideEthel Mae s Last Ride is a historical fiction novel by Jenny Marie Bee In this book we meet Ethel who is on a train in search of her husband who has been absent for almost a year working out of state The premise of this book is a reflection of Ethel s life including her many mistakes and misgivings She is finally trying to repair her fractured life and bring her husband home to their family This one was a difficult book for me to get into I really found myself disliking Ethel and her selfish behaviors alot so it made it very hard to continue reading it I did end up finally finishing the book but I still did not care for the main character and the decisions she made which made it impossible to love this book The writing style was good so it was just an ok read for me You will have to read it for yourself to decide if you feel the same way Ethel Mae s Last Ride I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I enjoyed this book and the way I was able to feel connected to the main character the whole way through She was relatable and her life story made you feel empathetic towards her. There were moments when she would dive into talking about her past that I struggled to follow It was written a little bit scattered in those sections where I would get lost in regards to the timeline of the history she was telling and the present Ethel Mae s Last Ride Ethel Mae likes drinking dancing and taking train rides to places she has never been to before After learning from the mistakes that s wreaked havoc in her relatively young life she sticks to only the third And during one such journey she narrates her life as unreliably and honestly as a person can. This was a quick easy read and sometimes the caustic voice is irritating sometimes wise But overall the humour with which she sees and deals with life makes Ethel Mae a very likeable woman Written very well I felt like I d been eavesdropping on a fellow passenger s story rather than reading it Thank you Book Sirens and Jenny Marie Bee for the ARC Ethel Mae s Last Ride Ethel Mae loves to talk and ride the train She doesn t like caring for her six children whom she unloads on their grandmother while she leaves the mountains of North Carolina searching for an errant husband in New York I struggled to connect with this character in any real way As a mother I found her behavior difficult to relate to but I tried to read the story from Ethel Mae s perspective The setting was almost as depressing as Ethel Mae s lack of responsibility for her own mistakes in life Although the story sometimes made me laugh I struggled to empathize with the MC or the storyline This book was difficult but I give it three stars because Jenny Mae Bee brought a period in Southern history to life for me I neither liked nor didn t like the tale It truly left me ambivalent I received an advance copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily Ethel Mae s Last Ride Ethel Mae s Last Ride by Jenny Marie Bee was a short novel depicting the life story of a small town southern woman from the mountains of North Carolina through her own eyes Ethel Mae is a likable character in the respect that she has never met a stranger and while she is friendly she is also not afraid to speak her mind and shoot it to you straight Ethel goes on to share some of her life s mistakes and the price at which these mistakes have cost her This story has a bittersweet ending that makes you feel for Ethel Mae but also makes you happy in knowing that she had come to terms with the way her life played out I found this book to be very interesting and humbling It reminded me of listening to an old timer tell stories from back in their day Would recommend to others, I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily Ethel Mae s Last Ride