The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This novel by BBC playwright Rachel Joyce has certainly received a lot of positive press (The Guardian, NYT), but for me the compelling reason to read it was because my sister-in-law and I have been sharing more introspectively fueled thoughts of late and have labelled these conversations our "pilgrimage." The storyline is that one day Harold Fry receives a letter from a former co-worker, Queenie Hennessy, telling him that she is dying of cancer and wanted to say good-bye. Harold is overwhelmed, then jots a note, addresses it, and heads out the door to post it back to her. On his way to the mailbox, he starts to think about what an inadequate response this is to someone who had meant a lot to him, so he keeps walking and thinking and at some point decides he is going to walk from his home in the southwest corner of England to the hospice where Queenie currently reside in the northwest corner of the country--something over 500 miles. It is a roller coaster of a walk in so many ways. He is inspired by the stories of those he meets and alternately weighed down by them. He accumulates and then discards belongings. He is roiled with memories of the deterioration of his marriage, his failures as a husband, father and friend. People are, in turn, kind to him, inspired by him, and even dismissive of him. His walk becomes national news. He learns that his postcards to Queenie are indeed giving her a reason to hold on and continue living. Meanwhile, his estranged wife Maureen is having her own epiphanies about responsibility, blame and destroying the love of her life. Hang in there with Harold, Maureen and Queenie for a thought-provoking and ultimately rewarding journey.