Meandering Em's

Passion is books, photography, running and traveling. Also passionate about environmental issues.

An Unlikely Book for Me to Read

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel - Rachel Joyce

I belong to two book groups who were reading this book.  I saw it at a book sale and decided to buy it.  I am glad it did.  It was completely mesmerizing.  

 

Harold Fry has recently retired and he is at loose ends.  He and his wife live in the same house, but have no meaningful conversations.  One day, Harold gets a note from an old friend telling him that she is dying.  He strolls to the Post Office to mail his reply, but instead keeps walking.  He decides to walk the north of England to his friend Queenie and encourages her to stay alive until he arrives.

 

During his journey, which is improbable at times, he begins to review his life with his wife,  son and friend.  He learns about other people and their difficulties.  He begins to change and, in the process, changes others around him.  

 

I enjoy the descriptions of nature that Rachel Joyce gives: the colors of sunrise and sunset, the flowers and plants, and the ocean.  She also describes the harshness of nature: the torrential downpours, the cold ground, the desolate sections of England.

 

I gave this book 4.5 stars.

Currently reading

The Waiting Years
Fumiko Enchi
Progress: 94/208 pages
Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock
Derrick Z. Jackson, Stephen W. Kress
Progress: 33/376 pages