Anyone who read and loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will want to follow up with this story of Harold's wife Maureen. Like all of Rachel Joyce's books, it's beautifully written and made me want to keep on reading to delve more deeply into Maureen's life and feelings. I would recommend that you read "Harold" first if you haven't already.

Ten years ago I discovered Rachel Joyce through the first iteration of the Harold Fry story, a book that has remained with me when others have evaporated. Although I never read the second installment, she has produced several works I have relished, and here comes the final piece of Harold's journey, told through the experiences of his prickly wife that the reader can't help but sympathize with. In her journey across England, she encounters several well drawn characters and comes to an epiphany of her own. Shorter than the earlier books, this still packs a wallop of empathetic power.

This is a beautifully written novella by Rachel Joyce, featuring Maureen, who is the wife of Harold Fry. I read the previous books several years ago, and this is the final book of the engaging trilogy. Recommended!

There's some books that just hits you right In the heart and this is one of them.

Maureen is not a likable person but she won me over just like this story did. I loved this powerful story and You need to read it.

Thank you to Net Galley, Rachel Joyce and Random House Publishing Group-Random House Dial Press Trade Paperback in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and aren't Influenced by anyone else

Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the opportunity to read this advance copy of Maureen in exchange for a fair review!

Stop. What. You’re. Doing.
Now if you haven’t read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry or the Love Song of Queenie Hennessy, you will want to do that now. Go ahead. I’ll wait. …
So Harold and Queenie are companion novels and it’s not important to read both or in a particular order. But! Reading both will compliment Maureen so gosh durn well! In fact, reading both of those will allow you better to understand Maureen and even weep a little at her growth and change in this small, short and sweet novel. Maureen makes a journey, and you’ll ‘get’ her. You will.

So go on….git…get read for Maureen by reading the other two.
I loved Maureen’s journey. I gobbled it whole.
4.5* rounded up to 5

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye is a unique & fresh read. When the opportunity to read Rachel Joyce’s next chapter of Harold Frye; “Maureen,” I hesitated because I so enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye, but curiosity won.
Maureen’s journey in the footsteps of Harold to resolve her inner demons, totally charming in a curmudgeonly, hopeful way. Maureen not the most likeable person, who often says what others may think, won me over. Maureen’s journey opened my eyes to the other side of the story. I enjoyed how her character’s eyes opened during her own journey, another fresh, unique story. Thanks to Netgalley for opportunity to read, I recommend to all who enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye.

Maureen is not a particularly likable woman. She's fussy and irritable. She doesn't like things that aren't just so. You don't bond with her immediately. As you get to know her, though, you begin to understand her. All the things that made her who she is. And before you know it, you are on her side. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking journey both about Maureen and about love and grief and understanding. Wholeheartedly recommend. I will recommend reading about Harold and Queenie first and it will fill in the gaps for you.

What a sweet redemptive booknabout the power of love and friendship. Maureen is the wife of Harod Fry and he encourages her to seek out peace after loss. A beautiful majestic redemptive story.

I liked this look into Maureen and how she takes a trip to really find and connect with her feelings and her grief.
I liked seeing these old characters again and meeting new ones.

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC!

I loved both of the Harold Fry novels so I was very excited to see a third one to sink my teeth into. This is a short novella and it's completely focused on Harold's wife, Maureen, who goes on a journey to visit Queenie's garden. It's tough to like Maureen because she's so negative and stuck up and wound tight and judgmental.

But then, things unravel, as they are won't to do and we see that like most people Maureen is broken inside and struggling and doing the best she can and has created layers of shells to protect herself from the world. Isn't that what most of us do?

Another lovely story from Joyce, this one is more like a character study. Deeply affecting and soft and kind and real as all her stories and characters are.

with gratitude to netgalley and Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded down

I read A LOT of books, so a few weeks after I finish one, I am often forgetting the details of story.

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”.

In the first, Harold Fry had set out to post a letter to his former co-worker, and friend Queenie, who has written to him to say “goodbye” after finding out that her illness is terminal. But, somehow, he gets it in his head that Queenie will stay alive, until she gets his reply, so he decides to hand deliver the note instead. He walks 627 miles to her bedside, becoming a bit of a local celebrity along the way. (4⭐️)

The second book, is the tale of what Queenie and her friends at Hospice, are doing, while Harold makes his pilgrimage. They follow his progress on TV, and implore Queenie to hang on! I saw Harold in a more positive light in this installment, and bawled like a blubbering baby! (5⭐️)

But, how did Harold’s wife, Maureen feel during all of this? They had been living in the same home, but fairly estranged prior to his walk-and she didn’t come across as the warmest person, BUT was she really okay with it, when it all began?!

Book three (more of a novella) is her journey of reconciliation-and definitely not a stand-alone.

Although readers have wondered this over the years, Rachel Joyce didn’t originally envision this as a trilogy although one reader told her years ago, that it absolutely was. Realizing that she really had not quite let go of the characters, she decided to finally let Maureen have a voice.

Maybe, because it was shorter, or maybe because I am so emotionally attached to Queenie, I didn’t quite connect to this one in the same way.

But, I am glad to have read it, and to have gained some insight into why Maureen comes across the way she does.

I love what the author shared in the opening prologue-that once she turned in the final draft, she went into her garden, and imagined a new set of characters and questions who had been “politely standing out of view”-ready to talk to her, when she was ready.

I can’t wait to meet them!

AVAILABLE February 7, 2023.

Thank You to Random House for the invitation to read an early copy of this book, provided through NetGalley! It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Yes, dear friends, it is I, Davida, the Rachel Joyce Addict! Now, as a Rachel Joyce Addict, you know I wasn’t going to wait for the US version to come out, and I pre-ordered the UK hardcover. Then, about two days after I was informed that my copy was winging its way to me, I received the NetGalley widget from the US publisher! When they asked me if I would be interested in reading and reviewing this book, I practically fell out of my chair with surprise – I believe the British would say I was “gobsmacked” with delight.

You should know that with this novella, Joyce makes Harold Fry’s story into a trilogy. We already had Queenie’s story, and so the only person left in this triangle is Harold’s wife, Maureen. Now normally I might have had some mixed feelings about this. You see, I fell in love with Joyce with the first Harold Fry novel and I’m always worried when a beloved novel gets a sequel, as it might not live up to the first one(s). But why I’d be afraid of this for anything by Rachel Joyce is beyond me, because… yeah. She did it again.

You see, Joyce has this amazing way of writing that combines just the right amount of poetry, to enhance the narrative and evoke emotions that can light up your mind’s eye. For example: “Maureen drove below snatches of sky where sunlight glinted on the road, steel blue, spun gold, as rich as the glances off a crow’s wing.” You just can’t tell me when you read this that you can’t picture exactly what Maureen is seeing, because I certainly can. What’s more, it is deceptively simple sounding prose that has layers of depth that are at the same time, so easily understood.

Furthermore, if you’ve read the other two books, you’ll know that the relationship between Maureen, Harold, and Queenie is a complicated one, but it isn’t one of deception or secrets, at least not since Harold made his unlikely pilgrimage to see Queenie once more before she died. However, we also learn that Maureen hasn’t yet come to terms with her own emotions and memories, and that’s what this book is about.

By the way, the title of this book for the UK audience is as I’ve noted here, but Americans will be getting a book entitled simply “Maureen” which I think is a bit of a missed opportunity for them. On the one hand, everyone in England knows that there’s a statue called “The Angel of the North” located in a place called Gateshead. However, this statue and its name is also a bit of a metaphor in this novella. While the sculpture reminds people of how coal miners worked underground for over 200 years in that region, it also is a beacon for the future where we finally can be above ground. Maureen’s journey is also a way for her to come out from beneath herself and her memories, to finally come into the sunlight. But more than that, Maureen also meets her own type of angel in the guise of Kate – one of the people who walked with Harold and befriended him during his trek, who he stayed in contact with over the ensuing ten years.

Look, I could go on and on about this novella, but then this review would be longer than the book. Instead, I’ll tell you that yes, Joyce made me laugh and cry with this story, yet again. This short work also proves that you don’t need hundreds upon hundreds of pages to make an impact. In fact, if you can write as lyrically and evocatively as Rachel Joyce, you can move your readers with just the turn of a phrase. Therefore, there is NO reason why I could rate this any lower than a full five out of five stars, and recommend this novella with my whole heart!

MAUREEN (HAROLD FRY #3)
BY: RACHEL JOYCE

I have read and loved most of all of Rachel Joyce's books that have been available for me to read. When I requested this beautifully written novel called, "Maureen," I reread "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." I am so thrilled that I got a chance to read "Maureen." Here the reader gets to see a more vulnerable Maureen.

I think that this one stole my heart even more. Maureen takes her turn to honor everyone involved and pay tribute to both Queenie and David. My favorite part is when Maureen faces her grief head on and it is just like in life. Grieving is no fun, but it is necessary. If you don't grieve your losses (and we have all experienced loss in this life), then the pain remains.

If we experience our grief. If we do the hard part of the work of processing our grief, then we can move on. I feel that is what Maureen finally begins to do with her journey during this novella. She is sort of resentful in the beginning and judges Kate. After she returns to Kate's after visiting the garden she begins to open herself up and a true friendship is born. Her talk with David was stunning while Maureen is recuperating at Kate's. It was my favorite part of the novella. I felt her soul soar.

I love the cover of "Maureen," and witnessed her come full circle. It happens during the pandemic, but is not about the pandemic. For me this is about accepting others and ultimately yourself. Rachel Joyce has written a jewel of an ending in this powerful trilogy. I loved "Miss Benson's Beetle,"also. I will be eager to see what she writes next since she is one of my favorite Authors.

Publication Date: February 7, 2023

Thank you to Net Galley, Rachel Joyce and Random House Publishing Group-Random House Dial Press Trade Paperback for generously providing me with my wonderful ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#Maureen #RachelJoyce #RandomHousePublishingGroupRandomHouseDialPressTradePaperback #NetGalley

Another great read from Rachel Joyce!
I have not read Harold Fry or Queenie in years but I was able to jump right in. I enjoyed watching Maureen's evolution as she was initially insufferable. There were a lot of imagery and descriptions, at times a bit too much. Especially considering they didn't add much, for me. Overall, the theme and message of the novel were handled well and easy to receive.

Maureen by Rachel Joyce is one book I won't forget!

This thought-provoking, wonderfully written story took me by complete surprise!
The stellar writing was just captivating. It was simple but yet so clever!
I absolutely adored this book. The characters journey on loss and love was really an amazing one.
Completely compelling and so poignant. I was blown away.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Random House & Dial Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Maureen by Rachel Joyce sounded like an intriguing tale, so I requested and received it as an ARC from NetGalley. My thanks to them, to the author, and to Random House Publishing for a digital ARC in return for my unbiased review. The thing is, I didn’t realize that it’s part of a trilogy – or triptych – as Ms. Joyce suggests it could be. So I quickly read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennesey. I would strongly suggest that readers do the same because the two previous books set the stage for Maureen’s story. She does not come across as particularly lovable in either story, but her story deserves to be heard.

This is the story of Maureen’s own pilgrimage. Her husband Harold walked more than 600 miles to visit his friend, Queenie, who was dying. Queenie had her own journey to live – and relive – as she faces her final trek toward eternity. Now Maureen, with encouragement from Harold, drives off on her own to find Queenie’s garden. She needs to see it for herself. Most of all, she needs to calm the restless spirit within herself that cannot stop grieving her son David’s tragic death.

Maureen is a difficult woman to love. As she travels solo and stops along the way, she sees herself reflected in the reactions of others; some are kind, some unpleasant. She is not indifferent to this, and over the course of her mission, she has some revelations about childhood, her marriage, her son, and about herself. At one point, she is so exhausted that she reluctantly calls a woman whom Harold had become friendly with on his long walk. It did not go well. But … just when I was thinking that Maureen is Maureen and that she will just go home a sad, lonely, angry woman, something happens to her…Sometimes when we are most vulnerable and are forced to rely upon others, our hearts can be changed.

There is a beautiful scene toward the end in Queenie’s garden. It is a gentle “aha moment,” the kind that it seems can only occur like a rainbow in the sky following a torrential downpour. Maureen knows, at last, why she needed to come to Queenie’s garden.

4 stars

Third book in trilogy
I was unsure what to expect, this story surprised me with how much I enjoyed her story
I could not stop reading until finished!!

I do recommend this final book in this trilogy.

“Maureen” is the final book in a trilogy about a couple who lost their son. Since I hadn’t read the first two books in this trilogy, it took me a bit to understand some of the previous events. If I had it to do again, I would read the books in order. The writing is lovely but the pace of the novel was quite deliberately slow. Maureen was on a journey to visit a memorial garden created for her son but the journey was more to find herself and deal with her grief. Once you realize that the pace of the book was also the pace of Maureen coming to terms with herself it fits quite well. Maureen is not an easy character to like but by the end of the book you come to understand her awkwardness and challenges dealing with others. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of Maureen.

Maureen was a surprisingly enjoyable read for me, because I had avoided Joyce's previous works, thinking them too sentimental for my taste. The description of Maureen intrigued me, however, and I was pleased to find that Joyce' is a wonderful storyteller. The pace of the novel is good, and isn't overwrought with extraneous detail, but it is a lush rendering, nonetheless, of Maureen's journey.

Interestingly, Joyce brings up the truthfulness/ambiguity/authenticity of art and fiction. By creating something beautiful out of something that isn't factual or real, or can be seen as painful, traumatic, or ugly in reality, does the artist do a disservice to those who have lived through grief and disaster? Joyce herself is creating something beautiful in this story, which is itself created, made up, through descriptions and fictional interactions, yet, they hold truths that the reader can recognize.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the final chapter in a trilogy beginning with "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry". Each novel highlights a different character involved in the loss of an older son and the resulting relationship issues with the parents. Since both parents had their own issues as they grew up, they are unable to parent as they would have hoped. Maybe this is the truth about most of us. We attempt to meet life the best we can, but our plans are so often fraught with dead ends. Maureen makes her way cross country to Queenie's Garden. Queenie was the subject of the second installment in the trilogy. She created a garden before she passed away that became a well-known place to come to grieve and many individuals had left tribute items concerning their own grief. Thus, the garden had grown larger. Maureen's character has turned into an unfriendly person since she has been unable to rid herself of the grief since her son's death. The story allows you to see who she has become and feel her experiences as she makes a difficult trip that allows her some closure. You never know who might make a difference in your life. This was a delight to read!