The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Please note that we will only grant requests to Canadian residents.

Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.

Leaving Maureen to her chores, Harold heads to the corner mailbox, intending a quick walk to post his reply. Instead, inspired by a chance encounter, he becomes convinced that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce's remarkable debut. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie will live.

Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest through the countryside. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit of youth and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood come rushing back to him-allowing him to reconcile his losses and regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.

And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.

A novel of unsentimental charm, humour, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise-and utterly irresistible-storyteller.

RACHEL JOYCE is an award-winning writer of more than twenty original plays for BBC Radio 4. She started writing after a twenty-year acting career, performing leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Joyce lives on a farm in Gloucestershire, England, with her husband and four children, and is at work on her second novel.

Praise for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry:

"Oh to be a pilgrim in yachting shoes and waxed cotton jacket, fueled only by a microwaved burger from a roadside garage and a sudden burning need to save a dying friend. Harold Fry is infuriating, hilarious and completely out of his depth, but I held my breath at his every blister and cramp and, felt, as if by turning the pages, I might help his impossible quest succeed. Marvelous!" -Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

"While [Joyce] handles her material with deceptive lightness, Harold's journey towards a better version of himself is totemic. To read about him is to be moved to follow him." -The Telegraph (UK)

"The redemption Joyce offers at the end of this novel is haunting, unexpected and inspiring. She makes you want to leave your phone at home and walk out to discover things." -The Times (UK)

"A tender, funny debut about second chances and regained love as a man takes to the road on an unusual quest." -Marie Claire