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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Rachel Joyce

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Why we're reading this: A tender, quietly comic, heartstopping and very British coming of (old) age novel from a powerful new voi…more
[close] A tender, quietly comic, heartstopping and very British coming of (old) age novel from a powerful new voice in fiction.

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Feb 05, 2013 Teresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rachel Joyce has written over twenty original plays for BBC Radio 4 and her debut novel stems from one of those plays, written in 2007, a play written for her father who was dying of cancer. Her protagonist, recently retired Harold Fry has somehow embarked on a pilgrimage for his former colleague, Queenie, who is terminally ill. One morning, whilst walking to the post box to post a letter of condolence to Queenie, he just keeps on going and decides to walk 600 miles from Devon to Berwick on Twee ...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Sharon Goodwin rated it really liked it

When Harold receives a letter from old colleague Queenie Hennessey, we are introduced to where Harold is in his life. Retired for six months, days monotonous and routine, estranged from his wife Maureen, the letter precipitates reflections and recollections. Queenie is in St Bernadine’s Hospice in Berwick on Tweed and is terminally ill. Harold writes a reply and sets out for the letter box on the corner of the road … and keeps on walking. A chance encounter with a girl in the garage gives him th When Harold receives a letter from old colleague Queenie Hennessey, we are introduced to where Harold is in his life. Retired for six months, days monotonous and routine, estranged from his wife Maureen, the letter precipitates reflections and recollections. Queenie is in St Bernadine’s Hospice in Berwick on Tweed and is terminally ill. Harold writes a reply and sets out for the letter box on the corner of the road … and keeps on walking. A chance encounter with a girl in the garage gives him the idea that if he walks to Queenie she will continue to live.

At the beginning of Harold’s journey he is still encased in his domestic life but as he continues, he sloughs off society and is inspired by nature and the kindness of strangers. His thoughts rest on his childhood and his life – by inference the reader is aware that there is a major trauma underlying his recollections. As his journey continues he enters cycles of joy and despondency.

Whilst Harold is walking, the reader also experiences what is happening to Maureen in their home in Kingsbridge. She comes to her own realisations and her healing begins.

When the media become aware of what he is doing, the pilgrimage changes from a solitary pursuit into something that is hyped up and loses its meaning. For a while Harold gets caught up in this, even though he doesn’t want to (oh that English politeness!) and the healing that began stops while he always has to consider others. It doesn’t need any stretching of the imagination to believe that this is how it could happen!

Written in the third person, we are able to identify with both Harold and Maureen. We see the changes that happen although it is not until we are near the end we understand totally.

The characters that Harold meet are diverse and bring added depth to his journey. Through them he comes to realise that we all hide ourselves behind the masks we present to other people.

The pace of the story is well-timed. The reader spends just the right amount of time on one ‘aspect’ before the story changes pace. This held my concentration. My emotions were engaged more deeply than I thought, yes, I did cry with Harold and Maureen sitting on a bench watching the tide coming in.

I also enjoyed the figurative language, for me, personification hooks my imagination. For example on page 187 “ … and the day grew more confident…”

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a coming to terms of choices made in the past and therefore a journey of healing to a place where we can live with those choices. It shows us how we can be so focussed on what we didn’t do that we actually miss the things we did do.

I would like to thank the publishers for sending me an uncorrected proof copy to review in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 DubaiReader rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, ew-pm-bk-grp, netgalley, e-book

A great book club read.

It took me a while to get into this book, for a number of reasons. I was frustrated with Harold for deciding to walk with so little preparation, with his insistence on keeping to his yachting shoes and his wife's failure to at least find him by car and give him his mobile phone. I also have strong feelings about keeping people alive when they are suffering and, by waiting for him, Queenie must surely have suffered unnecessarily. I was therefore most surprised when my book ...more

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Sep 12, 2013 Fiona rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An emotional, powerful read covering not only the physical but the emotional journey of one man who after receiving a letter from a long lost friend begins the walk to save her life. Harold on receiving the letter replies and pops out to post it at the bottom of the road but the post box appears far too soon and so he decides to walk to the next. Meeting a sales assistant in a petrol station he misinterprets her message and decides that he will make it his mission to walk and see Queenie who is ...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Rosalind rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-kindle

Lovely, heart warming book, makes you stop and think, and yes I did cry.

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Feb 10, 2013 Nikki-ann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I’ve heard many a good thing about this book, but did The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry live up to all the hype surrounding it? It certainly did! I thoroughly enjoyed reading Harold’s adventure as he walks his way from Kingsbridge, Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.

This book is about everyday people. I’m sure many readers out there can connect and sympathise with the characters, not just with Harold and his wife, but with the people Harold meets on his journey, too. As his journey progresse ...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Dan (aka Utterbiblio) rated it it was amazing

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is an absolute delight to read. It’s not only a wonderful story but a piece of work that will leave the reader thinking about the qualities of our own lives. Joyce has perfectly encapsulated a person’s humility and fragility and wrapped it up in this quintessentially British novel that brings about both tears of sadness and joy.

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