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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
 
 
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry [Kindle Edition]

Rachel Joyce (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2,773 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £3.66 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
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Product Description

Review

"One of the sweetest, most delicately-written stories I've read in a long time. One man's walk along the length of England to save the life of a dying woman. Each chapter describes a different encounter along the way, with a definite nod to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Philosophical, intriguing, and profoundly moving." (Richard Madeley Foyles website)

"Uplifting, funny and delicate" (Jon Stock The Daily Telegraph)

"At times almost unbearably moving." (Sunday Times)

"A brilliant and charming novel: full of comic panache yet acute and poignant." (Spectator)

"one of the most moving, uplifting, inspiring novels I've ever read" (Richard Madeley)

Review

Advance praise for "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry"

"Oh, to be a pilgrim in yachting shoes and waxed cotton jacket, fueled only by 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, that I might help his impossible quest succeed. Marvelous!"--Helen Simonson, author of "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand"

"The odyssey of a simple man . . . original, subtle, and touching."--Claire Tomalin, author of "Charles Dickens: A Life"
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1091 KB
  • Print Length: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Transworld Digital (15 Mar 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0857520644
  • ISBN-13: 978-0857520647
  • ASIN: B006TF6WAM
  • Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2,773 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #122 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Rachel Joyce Page
Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and Perfect published in July 2013. She was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' in December 2012.

Joyce has also written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play.

She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, winning a Time Out Best Actress award and the Sony Silver.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
575 of 590 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Charming, touching and engaging story 5 Jan 2012
By L. H. Healy TOP 100 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine Review (What's this?)
This is a delightful, poignant tale of a retired couple, Harold and Maureen, living out their days in Devon, when something happens that will change their future. And it is such a small occurrence on the face of it - a letter arrives for Harold from a former colleague of his at the brewery, Queenie Hennessy. Harold writes a reply, and he sets off down the road to post it. But then he continues walking. And carries on walking, and it becomes his purpose to get to Queenie, to save her, all the hundreds of miles away up in a Hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed, on foot, in just his yachting shoes.

Beautifully understated, the story plays out so well, there is sadness, some very touching moments, and there is some very well-observed gentle humour too. For Harold, and for Maureen, there is the time and space to take stock and think about their lives together, their son David, and about the events in the past that have brought them to where they are now. Can things be different for them; can they heal the divide that has grown? The reader is not party to the full story until close to the end of the novel. So we can only guess at the reason behind Harold's determination, whatever the odds, to get to Queenie, though we know it's not romantic love.

There is hope despite the difficult times. There is some lovely prose as Harold recognises and admires the nature all around him. His journey becomes more than just one that concerns himself and Queenie; it grows to involve the people he meets on his way, such a variety, by and large he is enriched by his encounters and buoyed by them. He is taken into strangers' confidences, and realises that so many people, despite appearances, have this inner torment that they carry with them. Read more ›
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179 of 189 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Overwhelming 23 Aug 2012
By Jade66
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I glanced at a few of the reviews before buying this book, none of them do it justice and I doubt if mine will either. This is a wonderful story that entertains and disquiets in equal measure. Ostensibly it is about a man, just retired, who sets out to walk from Devon to Berwick on Tweed after receiving a letter from an old work colleague. The colleague, Queenie, is dying of cancer. Harold pens a quick reply and sets off to post it, but somehow the posting of this letter seems inadequate. He decides instead to walk the 500 odd miles to Berwick, taking us with him.

It is clear very early on that Harold's life has been a disappointment. An inability to connect with his son, (stemming from his own neglectful childhood) has driven a stake between him and his wife, Maureen, and what was once a good marriage has deteriorated into a hopeless desert of non communication.

It is during his long walk that we discover all about Harold, and Maureen, and their son David, and all about the long held grievances and misunderstandings that have culminated in their isolation and loneliness. Sometimes these memories are extremely painful and I found myself moved beyond belief at this fictional tale.

One of the 2 star reviews on this page unbelievably states "nothing much happens". Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything happens as this endearing man struggles to make sense of his life, struggles to find hope and optimism when doors have been closed resolutely in his face, and struggles to assert his humanity on an indifferent world.

This is a story about all those things we leave unsaid, of all those regrets we fight daily to forget. Wonderful writing, clear recognizable characters, a story that won't leave you, and an examination in depth of all those weird and wonderful contradictions that make us what we are.
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301 of 323 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book 31 Dec 2011
By Maggie TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine Review (What's this?)
Be prepared to confront your personal demons when you read this book. For the mature reader in particular, I challenge you not to find something in this novel to make you at the least uneasy. It is ultimately an uplifting story, but along the way there is a great deal of pain and for many there will be uncomfortable home truths about things that we could have handled better, regrets about slipping into complacency and about the loss of passion. There is the terrible pain caused by the loss of a child; the guilt engendered by failure to appreciate and help a friend; the estrangement of a once-loving couple - and the knowledge that many of these things cannot be put right however much you want to.

Harold's walk is the vehicle for exploring these ideas and more. A very ordinary and unassuming man, not in any sense a hero, Harold's whim to walk to Berwick on Tweed to see a dying friend and by so doing to save her from cancer, provides the author with the opportunity to weave in the stories of many other people who, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, are living "lives of quiet desperation". The people he meets on his journey are often kind and generous but many are battling their own demons. At one point the simple pilgrimage that Harold has unwittingly created clashes with our modern world of celebrity - represented by the PR men and tabloid journalists - and you pray for Harold to escape all this and revert to his simple goal.

In the end Harold and his wife Maureen - a somewhat stereotypical middle-aged woman with net curtains and a clipped way of speaking that discourages anything unconventional - do find resolution and redemption. To say more would spoil the story. Do read it - it will make you laugh and cry but it will not leave you untouched.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars good read!
Enjoyed reading this it was an interesting story. It was a heart warming story and definitely gave me a lot to think about. Read more
Published 5 hours ago by net
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Totally unexpected. Brilliant book, very moving and emotional. It is well written and an easy read- well worth the time.
Published 1 day ago by Sundeep mahil
5.0 out of 5 stars MOVING STORY
HEARD A REVIEW OF THE BOOK ON THAT RADIO SO TRIED A SAMPLE . BOUGHT THE BOOK AND FINISHED IT IN TWO DAYS IT WAS SO GOOD . VERY MOVING , SAD YET UPBEAT , A HARD TRICK TO PULL OFF .
Published 1 day ago by Mr. M. L. P. Horabin
5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected
This book was recommended by a good friend, or I probably would not have read it. But she was right! Read more
Published 1 day ago by C. Couchman
4.0 out of 5 stars engrossed
You will not be disappointed, it pulls at your heart strings as if you are walking too with Harold Fry
Published 2 days ago by princess
5.0 out of 5 stars love this book!
I had to read it in one go. Living in south Devon, I knew most of the places at the beginning of the journey and I was hooked! Read more
Published 2 days ago by cazza
3.0 out of 5 stars Review
Enjoyed this touching , funny and poignant boom very mech . Good writing ,good story well written ,really enjoyed it.
Published 2 days ago by jackie owen
3.0 out of 5 stars Harold fry
A refreshing and polite take on life and its complexities. Although this story had its ups and downs it did feel like it ended on a down despite harold being re acquainted with his... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Laura Hultum
5.0 out of 5 stars great read
Great read, really got into the characters life. Lovely story of how you can still do things when your old
Published 3 days ago by kaylaosb
1.0 out of 5 stars A dull trudge...
A good idea which should have stayed as a good idea for Joyce ...and for Harold! This tale just does not work on any level with uninspiring characters who sap the life blood from... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Lorna Hutcheon
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Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
"e;
‘I know how much you miss Elizabeth.’ ‘I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone, but I still keep looking. The only difference is that I am getting used to the pain. It’s like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it’s there and you keep falling in. After a while, it’s still there, but you learn to walk round it.’ "e;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users
"e;
He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too. "e;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users
"e;
The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had done so for a long time. Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human. "e;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users

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