“We cannot always be the people we would like to be. But we can learn.”
Fans of Rachel Joyce’s character Harold Fry will be delighted to learn that the author has written a third novel in the series, this time about Harold’s rather difficult wife Maureen. When Harold Fry went to the mailbox one day and didn’t return, he was on a 600 mile pilgrimage to save his friend Queenie. He thought if he walked across the country to her, she would somehow survive. Maureen found herself thrust into a pilgrimage too, but a much more solitary one. Joyce told Queenie’s story next in The Love Song of Queenie Hennessy and I loved it even more than The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
The author begins this slim volume with an intriguing description of writer’s block in a preface. She explains that getting to writing about Maureen was like a having a sticky closet door full of stuff–one you avoid even opening and dealing with, because the thought of it is so unpleasant, and yet you know you have to get to it at some point. Well, Joyce has opened that door and cleaned out that closet and Maureen has been dealt with so beautifully! This is now my favourite of the trilogy!
Hearing from Maureen herself? Well, it’s made all the difference!
This book can stand alone but as a conclusion to the trilogy, it is most powerful. If you are new to Harold Fry, check out the links below.
Joanne's Reading Blog 