the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry synopsis

The story is set in 1972 and the present day and follows the lives of two characters. That she then calls her second novel Perfect, an open goal if it is anything but, shows her mettle. Admired by critics and much loved by readers and book groups, it was always going to be a hard act to follow.

( From the publisher.With The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, her best-selling debut novel, Rachel Joyce created a rod for her own back. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.Īnd then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.Ī novel of unsentimental charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise-and utterly irresistible-storyteller. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him-allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut.

But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Little differentiates one day from the next. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast.

The unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry synopsis