This was a sweet and charming read, following the story of the loveable Henry Applebee as he sets out on a journey looking to find ghosts from his past, and wondering if the path he's chosen to take is the right one! And this story really does show you how fate is destined to play a part - the world really does move in mysterious ways!

Henry and his dog Banjo lead a very simple life - he's 85 and has led a good life but has regrets and they seem to be playing on his mind now more than ever. For him it's now or never to find the answer to his questions so he sets out on a trip to Scotland, after his niece tracked down someone for him. She was supposed to go with him but had to cancel last minute, and at the train station a good samaritan, Ariel, helps him out when it looks like his journey might be over before it's even started!

Ariel is also on her own personal journey with a mission to deliver an envelope personally to someone in Scotland. She's just lost her mother and it was so important to her to pass this message on that she must get this done. Ariel is a real sweetheart and I really enjoyed seeing how her character dealt with all that life threw her way. When she and Henry end up travelling together they're also introduced to Travis, an american musician, and the 3 of them make for an interesting combination as they share stories on the journey up.

The fascinating pasts of all the characters really help you as a reader gain an interest and connection with them all. They all seem a little unsure of whether the path they've chosen to take is the right one. The more you learn about them, the more you start to sense a connection between them as people. I also really enjoyed the way the story went back in time so that we could see Henry as a younger man, a soldier, who finds love in the Tower ballroom and the story of his romance with Francine is very sweet and touching.

A really enjoyable adventure!

If you enjoy stories including the older generation interacting with the younger generation, then this book will definitely warm your heart. I happen to love these types of stories. My world brightens when I can talk to someone that has lived so much of their lives already and realizes what is important and what is not.
This book takes the reader on an adventure of an unlikely meeting of Henry Applebee (in his 80’s) and two young people, Ariel and Travis (approximately 18 and 23), when they all travel to the same location by train. As time goes by, conversations are exchanged, kindnesses offered and they leave the train changed people. Their interaction does not end at the train station.
I do not want to give much of the story away. This is a book best experienced as it is read, and knowing too much about the plot is not a good thing.
The story is centered by the fact that everything we do in life leads us to the path we will be following forward. Every decision (and non-decision) does effect the next step we take.
I totally enjoyed this wonderful journey with Henry, who definitely stole a piece of my heart. Some books stay with you, as you take your next step and this one is certainly going to be a part of me now.
This was the first book I read by Celia Reynolds. She is a fantastic author and I hope to read more from her in the future.
I was given this book by NetGalley and I thank them so much! I also want to thank HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Harper Impulse for approving me to read this book! Please do yourself a major favor and add this to your TBR list. My review is my own opinion, not influence by receiving the ARC.

Three strangers meet on a train journey from London to Edinburgh, through flashbacks you learn their histories and connectedness. A sweet story perfect for fans of Phaedra Patrick and Rachel Joyce.
Thank you netgalley and HarperCollins for an opportunity to read and enjoy this book.

Oh my goodness, I don't know where to start! - Finding Henry Applebee is an incredible debut novel by Celia Reynolds. An absolutely wonderful read which I could not put down - the outcome was amazing and I just want to know so much more about the next stages in the three main characters lives.

A train journey from London to Edinburgh where three people - Henry, Ariel and Travis, are all on their own separate missions. A train journey which takes them on the journey of their life and gives their world the most unimaginable and incredulous future that they always wanted.

Such a poignant and emotional read. Henry Applebee is a legend! And I am so pleased at the outcome! A delightful story that will make you smile, laugh and cry. Celia Reynolds is so talented - an incredible plot with wonderful characters, with their lives all cleverly intertwined. I loved the parts set in the Gower - such wonderful descriptions given throughout. You felt like you were on the train with them all, looking out the window. When the train broke down I was so nervous that they would not get moving again as they all had special places to go that evening - very tense!

Such a moving story with so many important messages. Listen to your heart, believe in yourself and always always follow your dreams. Do not take someone else's word - always find out for yourself as you cannot always trust the motive of others.

Finding Henry Applebee follows an 85 year old man, an 18 year old girl and a young man who find themselves sat together on a train from London to Edinburgh. On this train journey, they begin talking and sharing their life stories, and each character has an intricately woven backstory.

The first thing I noticed about this book was how easy the writing style is to read; I found it very quick and noticed that I could read it for long periods of time without losing interest.
The main character Henry is one that you instantly fall in love with. He is a somewhat lonely, kind old man that is haunted by something that happened to him when he was young. When reading a book with an elderly main character, I already know that it will pull on my heartstrings, but Henry was particularly likeable from the get-go, and I formed a strong connection to his character.
Ariel is also a very well written character. We are first introduced to her as being the one person in a crowded train station that pays any attention to an elderly man in need of some assistance, meaning we are instantly aware of her big heart. Throughout the story, Ariel grows up and develops a lot, and her reason for being on the train is what gives the book an element of mystery.

During this book, many tears were shed. I didn’t expect it to be so tragic and yet so heart warming. It is the kind of book that makes you want to hug your loved ones tightly.
I especially loved the last 40% of the book, as we explored how these strangers lives intertwined with one another and how this train journey impacted the course of their lives.

Overall, this was a thought provoking, wholesome read, and I am already planning on gifting it to a few family members at Christmas.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I think that I would have given this more stars if the author had been a little bit more realistic with the kismet type moments peppered throughout this book. Henry's story is a touching one, and I understand that there was an attempt to weave together the lives of the people that he meets as well as underpin the whole melange with some kind of mystery but it seemed unnecessary. In fact as a reader I found it hard to suspend my disbelief which is a shame. In the end I still felt moved by the brief look into these lives. If this is a debut novel then I feel this is an author and a talent that will develop with time.

There are some journeys that are long overdue. 85-year-old Henry packs his case to travel by train from London to Edinburgh to rekindle a long unforgotten relationship.
At the same time, Ariel, a young girl, makes the same journey to deliver an envelope that her mother entrusted her before her death.
With the plot chugging along with the train journey, the story of Henry and his wartime sweetheart unfolds.
Full of beautifully poetic phrases to re-read and give time to sink in: “When he turned and glanced expectantly in her direction, Ariel opened her mouth to speak, but her words lost their foothold and slipped back inside her, free-falling, like coins into a dusky well.“
Emotional and moving as it is, towards the end, the story sadly fizzles out somewhat. Did not get what the Travis/Frank subplot brought to the table, either.

Eighty five year old Henry Applebee decides, one morning, to put right his one regret - finding the woman who disappeared from his life many years ago. So, he boards a train with this mission firmly in mind. This is his story. Moving and nicely written this is a charming and emotionally charged read which you will just have to read to the very last page.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

This book was joy to read. It is a captivating story beautifully written. It did start a little slow, but then it gained momentum and sucked you in. It was wonderful to see how the individual threads of the story intervowen created the intricate pattern of a rich tapestry. I loved the characters,old and young alike. It is a heartwarming and uplifting story and I shed some tears at the end. I recommend it to everyone who loves literary fiction telling a love story.

'Finding Henry Applebee' is a story that takes the reader on a journey - both literally and metaphorically. In itself, it is reminiscent of a voyage: the intensity and excitement of commencement, through the dawdling hours of the main body, to the anticipation and drumroll of imminent arrival, before the leg stretch and bright, fresh air as you disembark.
Henry Applebee, Ariel Bliss and Travis, are all in search of something that will make sense of the lives they've lived so far; they're all on a train to Edinburgh; through they're interaction, they all benefit far more than they would have had they travelled solo.
With a feel of 'The Hundred Year Old Man' and 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry', Celia Reynolds' book offers us more as Henry interacts with his teenage companions.
Less successful are her jarring and repetitive use of colloquialisms:
* "she wouldn't have a snowball's chance oin hell"
* "the ball's in your court"
* "guess both of us landed on our feet"
* "a couple of bad apples from out of town."
Meanwhile, allusions to descriptive narrative feel self-conscious and a bit colour-by-number in their effortful naivety, "Ariel stared at the ghostly palette of her reflection embedded in the carriage window, the scud of clouds as nebulous and mercurial as her memories themselves-floating overhead."
Nevertheless, the book has plenty to recommend itself and was a pleasant -if drawn out- read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

I loved this book!! It was beautifully written, and some of the most important parts took place on a train journey from London to Edinburgh. You might think it is only the story of Henry Applebee’, an octogenarian, but it is so much more than that. Please do yourself a favour and read this lovely book!

I loved this book. A gem of a story about love, friends and family.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I was a little concerned when I first started reading this book,it was slow and I didn't think it was for me but I kept at it and I am glad that I did. It has been very well written and as the story went on it all came together. Please try and read this and you will see that you will enjoy it as I did. I will recommend you read this and I am giving it 4 stars.

The story has a huge cute-and-sweet factor, and immensely likeable characters. I did notice I found it hard to really get into the story somehow, with the alternating points of view and alternating periods. To be fair, that could have very well had to do with my own state of mind the last couple of weeks.

Finding Henry Applebee was somewhere between a 3 and 4 for me. I had some trouble getting into this book, but I think that was more about my headspace at the time than the writing. The story changes time and narrative focus between chapters, and while I don’t think it was confusing, I was a bit distracted when I started this and found the frequent shifting made it more difficult to settle into the story.

Generally the story focuses on Henry, both in the present as an eighty-five year old man and in his past as a young man coming home from war. On his way to Edinburgh, he crosses paths with a teenage girl named Ariel, and she also becomes a narrative focus for a significant part of the book.  A couple of times Reynolds shifts the limited omniscient point of view to a couple of other characters for a chapter, and I don’t think I enjoyed this.  Shifting between Henry and Ariel created a pattern, and the other chapters felt like a break in that pattern, though the break may have been needed for the purposes of the plot.

Overall, this is a charming story populated by nice characters. It’s a sweet sentimental story even if I had some trouble getting into it.

Thank you to @netgalley and One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Finding Henry Applebee is scheduled for release on October 4.

A good story about an old man trying to right a wrong from his past. Henry is a very lovable character and I immediately wanted things to go well for him. Most of the book takes place on a train in England as Henry meets and chats with two young people, with frequent flashbacks into all their lives.

As I said, the story is good, but you need to be able to accept several really huge coincidences. Really huge. I had some difficulty with that but let it go and just enjoyed the read. The characters were all likeable and interesting and everything ties up neatly at the end.

I don't believe I have ever had such a difficult time trying to get through a single reading of a book. The tale is a moving portrait of the power of human kindness (Ariel), generosity (Travis), and love (Henry & Francine)—each connecting during a journey of a lifetime. The MC's characterizations were so beautifully drawn that it was impossible not to fall in love with all of them. It took a long time, but after multiple postponements, I was finally ready for a good cry—and was not disappointed. Poignant, sweet, and healing. I have not read a book this good in a long time. 5+ stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads, and Celia Reynolds for an ARC of 'Finding Henry Applebee' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

A well written, charmingly quirky read, very much in the vein of The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The characters are instantly likeable and beautifully developed, creating a storyline that was an absolute delight, start to finish.

A beautifully told story of love, loss and friendship. The unfolding story takes the reader around Europe and back in time. A story that will stay with me indefinitely. Loved Henry and Alice. A wonderful debut