The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry: The uplifting and redemptive No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller (Harold Fry, 1)

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RJ: I think I didn't really know that until I got to the second book. And then as soon as I began thinking about it, I thought, “She has a sea garden,” and I didn't even know what a sea garden would be, but I knew that she must have one. And then what happened was that I went to the place where I imagined her garden would be, and in my mind, I'd put her in a little kind of hut, a sort of tin-hut-type house overlooking the sea. And where I'd imagined it, I got there and I thought, "Oh, no, there's no way. This is just completely the wrong place." And then I went walking for about three miles up the coast and I came to a cliff and I could not believe it. On the top of the cliff there were about 20 tin-hut bungalows, chalet-type things. I mean, exactly what I'd imagined. It's just that my imagination was about three miles out.

The main difference in this book from the other two is the length. This is a novella and although I thoroughly enjoyed this read, it did feel noticeably short. I wanted as much of Maureen as the author wrote of both Harold and Queenie. With that said, what was written about Maureen was both revealing and satisfying. But a FEW books, stay in our hearts, and become the ones you recommend over and over again, no matter how many years have passed. That had been the case with the first two books in this series: “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” and (especially) “The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy”. Maureen is more of a companion read rather than a sequel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. My Thoughts: Maureen seemed short-tempered and resentful in the earlier books but has mellowed considerably. She hopes she’s better than her mother. I’m enthusiastically recommending novella-length Maureen for fans of character-driven literary fiction, for readers who love The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and for those who appreciate stories with mature characters. Of course, book clubs will find a great deal to discuss here.The last of the Harold Fry trilogy, this time featuring Maureen, Harold's wife. She hears about Queenie's garden in Embleton Bay and that her son David is in it, so she makes a pilgrimage of her own to see it, to find him in it. As I traveled home, if it was as if Maureen came and sat right next to me. She said, “So? What are you going to do about me? Keep running?” And I said, “No, Maureen,”—though not out loud because, of course, because I was on a train and this was an imaginary person I was conversing with. But I was finally ready to help her make that difficult journey of reconciliation that she needs to make, alone and apart from Harold, because I was ready to make that journey for myself too. From the moment I met Harold Fry, I didn't want to leave him. Impossible to put down.' Erica Wagner, The Times Read more Look Inside Details Told in simple, emotionally-honest prose, with a mischievous bite, this is a novel about the journey we all must take to learn who we are; it is about loving and letting go. And most of all it is about finding joy in unexpected places and at times we least expect. I can honestly say that every character I write stays in my bones. Harold and Maureen, Queenie and David, are a part of my life. They will always be. But I no longer need to write them, and they no longer need me. Short of becoming a board game, and trust me I have considered it, our journey is over.

Maureen Fry and the angel of the north by Rachel Joyce is the third book in the Harold Fry series and I can’t believe it is ten years from the first book.Although Maureen can be read as a stand-alone, it will make more sense and be a richer reading experience if you’ve read the first two ( Harold and Queenie). Recommending Maureen This was a poignant, lovely read, filled with compassion, a story of both growth and healing with a perfect ending.

EC: Yeah. And you have a family. Finding time to write among having a career and raising a family—I've asked this question to several other authors, actually. I'm just curious how you sort of carved out that time for yourself and for your own goals. Related: Books I’ve reviewed by Rachel Joyce: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Miss Benson’s Beetle, The Music Shop. Thanks you to Rachel Joyce, Dial Press, and NetGalley for this poignant story which has already published. The book launches where Maureen is embarking on a pilgrimage of her own, with the blessing and urging of her husband Harold. I don't want to elaborate on the details as the reader needs to discover this along with Maureen on their own. Along the way she is as forthright and unpleasant as ever, but learns some lessons along the way. One of the sweetest, most delicately-written stories I've read in a long time. One man's walk along the length of England to save the life of a dying woman . . . Philosophical, intriguing, and profoundly moving' RICHARD MADELEYMaureen is a lesson in struggling to find oneself. She is afraid of friendship, and is fearful of what lies ahead. Fortunately, through Harold's trip, she has reconnected with her husband, but has not yet reconnected with herself.

Six miles south of Stroud he phones the hospice and is told that the stay, cure, or miracle is working. His decision to walk appears vindicated. He finds a cast-off sleeping bag and carries it with another bag, looking now every bit a gentleman of the road. Faced with a shrunken bank balance he starts to sleep out. In Cheltenham he gives away his guidebook and posts home his debit card and other items. In the renunciation is the wonder of the impossible. An unforgettable story. It's beautiful all through, but the closing chapters are just astonishing, transcendent and hope-filled and life-affirming.' Donal Ryan This is my second letter to you, Harold, and this time it will be different. No lies. I will confess everything, because you were right that day. There were so many things you didn’t see. There are so many things you still don’t know. My secrets have been inside me for twenty years, and I must let them go before it is too late. I will tell you everything, and the rest will be silence.

While I was on the edge of a full confession, you were admiring a roof extension. I unclipped my bag. I took out a handkerchief. Over the years I have been asked many times where he came from, just as I have been asked about Maureen, Queenie, and the young man, David, who is at the centre of their lives. The honest truth is that I don’t know. If they came from anywhere, I guess it was my unconscious. They started in a place of truth, or a place of private need, as many stories do, and grew from there into something that was half-known, and half-imagined. In fact Harold became so real to me, and to my family, that there were times we would drive past an elderly man on a road and my children would actually wind down their car windows and wave. A few years later, I even saw him (or at least the image of Harold Fry that was on the Thai cover) as the logo on a van advertising a stair lift company. I came home and said to my husband, “You’ll never believe this, but Harold has his own private enterprise now.” It does feel like this series is complete now and I am glad to have read all three of these books. I think it is best to read all three in the series. I did like the first two quite a bit and just didn’t connect as much with Maureen. I do like this author, and I look forward to her next books!