The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
The uplifting and redemptive No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller
-
-
4.3 • 173 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
*Companion edition to the major film written by Rachel Joyce, award-winning author of the internationally bestselling book, directed by Hettie Macdonald (Normal People) and starring Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton
*Contains exclusive new behind-the-scenes insights and colour photographs
Harold is an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day...and just keeps walking.
This edition includes stills from the film; also exclusive material about adapting novel to book by Rachel Joyce; Rachel Joyce in conversation with the producers; and insights from the producer about the challenges of making the movie.
'The odyssey of a simple man, original, subtle and touching.' Claire Tomalin
'From the moment I met Harold Fry, I didn't want to leave him. Impossible to put down.' Erica Wagner, The Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
At 65, Harold Fry has settled into a quiet life of routine—until he hears from a dying friend. Carrying no phone and wearing impractical shoes, Harold means simply to send Queenie a letter. But he sails past the mailbox seized by an impossible thought: If he keeps walking, she’ll keep living. Rachel Joyce’s tender, stirring novel takes Harold on a journey across England, meeting colourful and thoroughly British characters along the way. As her hero works through the heartbreaking relationships of his own past, he heads towards a resilience and openness that’s nothing short of inspirational.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Harold Fry, a morbidly shy, retired British brewery salesman, decides on a whim to walk the distance between his home in southern England and the hospice where his long-lost friend, Queenie Hennessey, is dying of cancer, he has no idea that his act will change his life and inspire hundreds of people. The motivation behind the trek and why he is burdened by guilt and the need to atone, are gradually revealed in this initially captivating but finally pedestrian first novel by English writer Joyce. During Harold's arduous trek, which covers 627 miles and 87 days, he uncoils the memory of his destructive rampage for which Queenie took the blame. He also acknowledges the unraveling of his marriage and his anguish about the lack of intimacy with his son. Plagued by doubt and exhaustion, he undergoes a dark night of the soul, but in the tradition of classical pilgrimages, he ultimately achieves spiritual affirmation. Joyce writes with precision about the changing landscape as Harold trudges his way across England. Early chapters of the book are beguiling, but a final revelation tests credulity, and the sentimental ending may be an overdose of what the Brits call "pudding."
Customer Reviews
Harold Fry
My Dad (in the UK) has raved about this book and with just cause. What a wonderful perception of life's ups, downs, trials, trails and retributions. It has certainly evoked a recollective consideration of my life, I remember now why I chose the path I chose. A great read.
Achingly beautiful
The journey of life. How ordinary we all are. The need to find our feelings and share them. Beautiful and simple. Don't leave things unsaid. Harold and Maureen and the unspoken things that bing them together
Beautiful and heartbreaking
THis book took me on a journey, in so many ways. If I had known where it was taking me, I might not have gone. It deals with intense grief. It broke me into pieces and made me cry when I did not want to cry. But it also made me laugh. The beauty of the writing, of the broken, hopeful, completely believable characters. I thought this book would be light and gentle, but it was so much more. I will need something light for this book hangover. But I am hooked on Rachel Joyce now, I will read more by her.