Aging and recent widow Harriet Beamer insists she’s getting along fine with her dog Humphrey in Philadelphia … until she falls for the fourth time, injuring her ankle, and causing her son and daughter-in-law to cry foul. Insisting Harriet move in with them in California, they make a bet that her ankle is broken, and she foolishly promises to move if they’re right. Four x-rays later, Harriet’s … Harriet’s ankle–and her heart–are broken. She packs up, ships her huge salt and pepper collection to California, and prepares to move away from the only life she knows. The only catch? She’s doing it her way. Just wait till her daughter-in-law hears Harriet will travel cross country only by public transportation and alternate means. What follows is a hilarious, heartwarming journey by train, metro bus, ferry, and motorcycle. Along the way, Harriet discovers that although her family thinks it’s time for her to be put out to pasture–God has a different plan.
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Really enjoyed this book. It was funny and just enough adventure to keep it interesting. The characters seem real.
I want to hop on the bus too! I just love the book and the characters. I laughed until I cried. Great fun!
Nothing special, funny
I laughed the whole way through this book. Loved it.
Loved this book. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was so much more. I would highly recommend it to most any audience. There’s something for everyone!
fun adventures
Fun to read but not as taken with her being a hero
Great read, age is merely a number NOT a mindset. Laughed and cried and smiled when I finished reading!
Loved this book. Recommended it to a friend and she loved it too.
a few experiences not really probable, but overall a delightful book.
Would recommend Harriet Beamer Takes the B us.
Harriet Beamer, aged 72, lived in Bryn Mawr, PA in the home her husband, Max had built. She had been a widow for 15 years and thought of Max every day. She often talked about him to her dog, Humphrey. Her son, Henry, a writer, and his wife Prudence, a lawyer, lived in Grass Valley, California. Henry had sold his father’s construction …
Simple telling about an older lady making her way to California by way of public transportation. The people she meets help make her full life rich. Lovely tale.
This was a delightful travel adventure!
The Christian faith of Harriet which she revealed so easily, without preaching and unabashedly by just being who she was, was wonderful!
Enjoyed
I loved Harriet and the people with whom she interacted. I have recommended it to others.
I enjoyed this book! Harriet Beecher is an older widow who bakes cookies and wears dresses, very old-fashioned. She’s never traveled anywhere, but when she loses a bet and has to move all the way across the US to live with her kids, she decides to see the country in the course of the move, by using public transportation to get there. I enjoyed …
A straightforward account of a cross country trip. The kicker is that the protagonist goes out of her way to find inefficient modes of transport. Well written and mildly amusing. The detailed descriptions of the train and bus stations made me wonder if the author actually took the same trip while writing.
A fun, easy read for the summer about one older woman’s journey across country on public transportation. She meets interesting characters that help her ‘find herself’ for the first time in her life and help her find God’s purpose for her.
I just loved this book, since I am the same age as the heroine, I could understand her so easily. Loved it so much, I bought the book for my sister and also bought the authors next book!