Elizabeth Letts Books in Order

How to Read Elizabeth Letts's Books

Elizabeth Letts has built a celebrated writing career by splitting her talents between two distinct categories: meticulously researched, emotionally resonant narrative nonfiction (often featuring incredible animals) and rich historical or contemporary fiction. Because all of her books are standalone titles, you do not need to follow a strict sequential order. Instead, the best way to read her catalog depends entirely on your preferred genre.

For readers who want to experience her books in the order she wrote them, we have laid out the complete publication order below. We also provide a chronological breakdown by historical setting for readers who prefer to move through history step-by-step.

Recommended Starting Points

If you are new to Elizabeth Letts, here is where you should begin:

• For Nonfiction Lovers: Start with The Eighty-Dollar Champion (2011). This is the book that established Letts as a premier storyteller of human-animal bonds, telling the unforgettable true story of a rescued plow horse who became a show-jumping legend.
• For Fiction Lovers: Start with Finding Dorothy (2019). This gorgeous biographical novel follows Maud Gage Baum, the widow of L. Frank Baum, as she fights to protect her husband's legacy during the filming of the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz.

Publication Order of Narrative Nonfiction

Letts's nonfiction works are narrative-driven, reading with the pacing and emotional depth of a novel. They are best read in order of release, showing her progression as a historical researcher:

1. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation (2011) – The true story of Harry de Leyer and Snowman, a horse bought off a slaughter truck for $80 who went on to win the National Horse Show.
2. The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis (2016) – A thrilling World War II rescue mission where American soldiers and Austrian lipizzaners joined forces to save rare breeds from destruction.
3. The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America (2021) – The heartwarming journey of 63-year-old Annie Wilkins, who rode her horse from Maine to California in the mid-1950s with only her dog and a few dollars to her name.

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Letts began her career writing contemporary novels about family dynamics and professional struggles before pivoting to historical fiction:

1. Quality of Care (2005) – Drawing on Letts's background as a nurse-midwife, this debut novel follows an obstetrician facing a medical malpractice crisis and personal turmoil in her small town.
2. Family Planning (2006) – A contemporary novel exploring the complex, often messy relationships within a large, politically active family.
3. Finding Dorothy (2019) – A historical novel bridging the late 19th-century American frontier (where the Oz books were imagined) and 1930s Hollywood.
4. Fallen for France (2026) – A sweeping World War I historical novel spanning Morocco and France, focusing on a magnificent Arabian mare and the interconnected lives touched by war.

Writing as Nora Carroll

In addition to publishing under her own name, Elizabeth Letts wrote two contemporary women's fiction novels under the pseudonym Nora Carroll. These standalones focus on family secrets, memory, and personal growth:

• The Color of Water in July (2011, also published as Hemingway Point) – Focuses on a woman returning to her family's lakefront cottage in Michigan, where she is forced to confront long-held family secrets and a past tragedy.
• Academy Girls (2014) – Follows a woman returning to teach at the boarding school of her youth, where she must deal with her own memories while guiding a new generation of girls.

Children's Picture Books

For younger readers, Letts has co-authored and adapted stories that share her love of history and animals:

• The Butter Man (2008) – Co-authored with Ali Alalou, this picture book tells a story within a story about a young boy in Morocco waiting for his father to return with butter during a time of drought.
• My Blue-Ribbon Horse: The True Story of the Eighty-Dollar Champion (2022) – A beautifully illustrated picture-book adaptation of The Eighty-Dollar Champion, bringing Snowman's story to young children.

Chronological Order by Historical Era

If you prefer to read Letts's historical works chronologically based on the time period in which they are set, use this order:

1. Finding Dorothy (Late 19th Century to 1939) – Spans Maud Baum's childhood, her marriage to L. Frank Baum, and the 1939 production of The Wizard of Oz.
2. Fallen for France (1910s / World War I) – Explores the impacts of the Great War from the battlefields of France to the deserts of North Africa.
3. The Perfect Horse (1940s / World War II) – Tells the story of the military operation to save Europe's finest horses during the final days of WWII.
4. The Eighty-Dollar Champion (1950s) – Snowman's rescue and rise to fame occur against the backdrop of post-WWII America.
5. The Ride of Her Life (1954–1956) – Documents Annie Wilkins' historic cross-country ride across mid-century America.

What to Know Before You Start

First-time readers of Elizabeth Letts should keep in mind that her background heavily influences her writing. As a former competitive equestrian, she writes about horses with deep technical accuracy and empathy. As a former nurse-midwife, her early contemporary fiction portrays medical and familial scenarios with striking realism. Regardless of whether you pick up her fiction or nonfiction, expect stories that focus on ordinary individuals accomplishing extraordinary things in times of crisis.