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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, #1)

Rachel Joyce

Start date: March 1, 2013

Finish date: March 31, 2013

Discussion: Discussions & Challenges

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Oct 12, 2012 Judy rated it really liked it

Harold Fry lives a life of quiet desperation. He's recently retired, he and his wife rarely communicate, he hasn't seen his son in over 20 years, and he gets up every day, puts on a shirt and tie and sits in the same chair. Each day in his small English village is the same as the day before. And then one morning he gets a letter from a woman, Queenie Hennessy, who worked with Harold and suddenly disappeared years before. In the letter, Queenie tells Harold that she has cancer and she is writing Harold Fry lives a life of quiet desperation. He's recently retired, he and his wife rarely communicate, he hasn't seen his son in over 20 years, and he gets up every day, puts on a shirt and tie and sits in the same chair. Each day in his small English village is the same as the day before. And then one morning he gets a letter from a woman, Queenie Hennessy, who worked with Harold and suddenly disappeared years before. In the letter, Queenie tells Harold that she has cancer and she is writing to say goodbye. Harold is devastated and struggles to write a reply. Leaving home to post the letter he passes the first letter box and the next and the next. Harold, who left his cell phone at home and who is wearing yachting shoes, decides that he is going to walk 600 miles from his home in Kingsbridge to Queenie's hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed. He believes that as long as he is walking, Queenie will live and he will be able to deliver his letter to her in person. Harold also believes that he can save Queenie's life when it is apparent that he can't save his own. And so begins his pilgrimage of faith. Along the way, Harold meets an interesting group of people, each of whom has their own story. And so, in many ways, Harold is living the Canterbury Tales except he is the only pilgrim. While he is walking--without a map, without supplies and with only his belief that he needs to continue--Harold begins to change. He discovered that "in walking, he freed the past that he had spent 20 years seeking to avoid, and now it chattered and played through his head with a wild energy that was its own. He no longer saw distance in terms of miles. He measured it with his remembering". Harold isn't the only person changed by his pilgrimage. His wife, Maureen, who effectively ended any intimacy in their relationship several decades earlier begins to realize that she has stayed in their marriage, however lonely and loveless it was, because her world without Harold would have been even more depressing and desolate. And now she is not sure what Harold is doing and not sure if he is going to come home after his visit with Queenie. This was a difficult book to assign a rating. Parts of it were 5 stars and parts 3 stars. But as each character faces difficult truths and allows themselves to change over the period of the 600 mile pilgrimage, the result is a deeply satisfying read. ...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Kerry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Listened to the audio and at first I thought it was a little too slow a story than it picked up but I thought it was too improbable and then it got so sad I wasn't sure I could keep listening. But like Harold I just kept going and by the end I found I loved this improbable,sad but beautiful story. It actually brought me to tears, because at the end the author rang so true. Not sure why I didn't give it 5 stars maybe because I didn't find it always to be great writing and in the middle it felt li ...more

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Mar 04, 2013 ☻Nikki☻ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

I did the audio version. The Narrator took a little bit to get used to but I really enjoyed him once I was used to his style. This is not a book I normally would choose. The book description wasn't exactly my style. It's about a man who, after receiving a letter from a long lost friend who is dying of cancer, decides to walk to see her...hundreds of miles away.

It started out a little stilted. We learned that poor Harold & his wife Maureen have a very detached marriage. We aren't really told why ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Linda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2017-audio

Pretty dismal story with moments of hope thrown in. I did enjoy this book but was not expecting it to be so depressing. It is an interesting look at how a this man comes to terms with the events that happened twenty years ago. Eventually all problems need to be confronted no matter how they have been resolved.

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Nov 23, 2012 Sharron rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, feel-good

What an exquisite story, both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It has been a while since I picked up a book and was unable to put it down and even longer since a story moved me to tears. But for the wonderful reviews, I might have taken a pass on this quirky story but I am so glad I didn't. ...more

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