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5 days and 17:41:31
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The Yellow Finch, a Black Bikini, and a Rat Called Hernandez: A Memoir
Win a free kindle copy of this book!
5 days and 17:41:31
100 copies available
U.S. only
I was looking for a sailor to take me away on an adventure.
You can die making love, playing tennis, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn—or walking through Arrivals at an airport, like my husband, Lars. The morning of the day he died I dreamed that my family and I were standing at a bed where he lay with his eyes closed. It was June 28, 2002.
In the 1970 movie Woodstock, of all the hippies interviewed, one caught my a naked guy sitting on a rock in a pond. "Do you always swim naked?" asks the cameraman. With a big toothy grin, he says, "It's the only way to swim." Later in the movie, he’s seen on a pay phone talking to his girlfriend. With his wavy blonde hair spilling on to his face he’s shouting, “It’s a free concert! The gates are down!”
Lee (that hippie) and I met in person some 30 years later in Beaufort, South Carolina. I had recently lost my husband. Lee was looking for a first mate to sail the high seas of the world with him. I was looking for a sailor to take me away on an adventure. Fate brought us together at the perfect moment.
Wendy Fredell has been a model, graphic designer, newspaper contributor, and freelance writer, and has sailed over 24,000 miles to 50 countries. Her essay “A Budding Genius” was included in Oprah’s book Live Your Best Life. When she’s not sailing, she lives in Austin, Texas. The Yellow Finch, a Black Bikini, and a Rat Called Hernandez is her debut work.
You can die making love, playing tennis, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn—or walking through Arrivals at an airport, like my husband, Lars. The morning of the day he died I dreamed that my family and I were standing at a bed where he lay with his eyes closed. It was June 28, 2002.
In the 1970 movie Woodstock, of all the hippies interviewed, one caught my a naked guy sitting on a rock in a pond. "Do you always swim naked?" asks the cameraman. With a big toothy grin, he says, "It's the only way to swim." Later in the movie, he’s seen on a pay phone talking to his girlfriend. With his wavy blonde hair spilling on to his face he’s shouting, “It’s a free concert! The gates are down!”
Lee (that hippie) and I met in person some 30 years later in Beaufort, South Carolina. I had recently lost my husband. Lee was looking for a first mate to sail the high seas of the world with him. I was looking for a sailor to take me away on an adventure. Fate brought us together at the perfect moment.
Wendy Fredell has been a model, graphic designer, newspaper contributor, and freelance writer, and has sailed over 24,000 miles to 50 countries. Her essay “A Budding Genius” was included in Oprah’s book Live Your Best Life. When she’s not sailing, she lives in Austin, Texas. The Yellow Finch, a Black Bikini, and a Rat Called Hernandez is her debut work.
- GenresMemoirBiography Memoir
393 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 13, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 16, 2026
This memoir is about finding yourself after becoming a widow. Ms. Fredell tells her story very vividly. The people she writes about are, for the most part, described so well that one feels they know the person. Landscapes and places can be pictured in one's mind. You can almost feel you are there with her. She is a great storyteller and I hope she continues to write.
I just didn't enjoy the story. After losing her husband, then putting herself out there, falling in love again, and losing another love, she falls for a man who wants to spend the majority of his time sailing his catamaran. In trying to find who she is after the death of two loves, she totally loses herself in this sailor, to the point where I just didn't like either one of them. She put up with so much from this man, for so long, that I could no longer feel sympathy for her. As a widow myself, I just couldn't understand her thinking. #GoodreadsGiveaways
I just didn't enjoy the story. After losing her husband, then putting herself out there, falling in love again, and losing another love, she falls for a man who wants to spend the majority of his time sailing his catamaran. In trying to find who she is after the death of two loves, she totally loses herself in this sailor, to the point where I just didn't like either one of them. She put up with so much from this man, for so long, that I could no longer feel sympathy for her. As a widow myself, I just couldn't understand her thinking. #GoodreadsGiveaways
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2025
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Greenleaf Book Group for choosing me.
Definitely an emotionally charged read. Walking with her through her pain and grief was heartbreaking and yet somehow it was also beautiful. I felt like I was sitting across from Wendy as she told her story. I think anyone who comes across this book should take the opportunity to spend some time with it.
Definitely an emotionally charged read. Walking with her through her pain and grief was heartbreaking and yet somehow it was also beautiful. I felt like I was sitting across from Wendy as she told her story. I think anyone who comes across this book should take the opportunity to spend some time with it.
January 16, 2026
This was a Giveaways gift, and I really wanted to like it more than I did. I can't put my finger on why I felt a sense of disatisfaction while I was reading it, but it wasn't boring.
I did like all the travel stuff, though even that didn't entirely pull me in. Maybe the writing style just wasn't for me.
I did like all the travel stuff, though even that didn't entirely pull me in. Maybe the writing style just wasn't for me.
February 18, 2026
I received this book from Goodreads. I enjoyed reading this memoir about Wendy's life. Wendy had losses in her life. She is a mother and grandmother. Wendy has dreams to travel and live on a boat. Wendy writes about her adventures as she lives her dreams. Wendy writes about her experiences that include joys, conflicts, love, and travels.
February 15, 2026
a fascinating life
A well written and enchanting story that takes the reader all over the emotional map. It really makes a person wish for the guts to take the leaps of faith described in the memoir
A well written and enchanting story that takes the reader all over the emotional map. It really makes a person wish for the guts to take the leaps of faith described in the memoir
February 3, 2026
A big ego trip of a memoir. Fredell’s husband dies while her youngest son is in college. Instead of supporting that son and seeing her new granddaughters, she sails around to lots of nook and cranny islands with her equally self-absorbed boyfriend.
I cannot tell you how many chapters end with statements like “that’s how I found out my son dropped out of school” or “I only had $2,000 left in my bank account” with no resolution in the following chapters.
Thanks to River Grove Books for the free ebook!
I cannot tell you how many chapters end with statements like “that’s how I found out my son dropped out of school” or “I only had $2,000 left in my bank account” with no resolution in the following chapters.
Thanks to River Grove Books for the free ebook!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews