The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Joyce’s beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of ‘ordinary’ English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds.”—People (four stars)
NOW A MUSICAL AND MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, 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.
- Pages
- 338
- First published
- July 24, 2012
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Reviews
Finished January 13, 2025
If Mathew Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables went on a Forrest Gump-style pilgrimage, you'd get something like The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I absolutely loved this book. It’s heartbreaking, tender, and incredibly deep, filled with sentimentality in the best way. Every page was a delight to read, making it my favorite book of 2025 so far.

