Full disclosure: I read this book a few weeks ago, but the book certainly left an impression on me that still remains. So, why don't we get into it?
The third book I've read this year is "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce. I had this book sitting on my TBR windowsill for a good six months before I finally picked it up in mid-January. To be quite honest, I feel as though I picked this book up during a run through Savers last summer and did not intentionally go searching for the book. But, I am beyond happy that it did make it to the checkout.
Essentially, the book follows the "unlikely" pilgrimage of an older man by the name of Harold Fry. He is married to Maureen Fry, but their relationships is rocky due to a traumatic experience with their son, David. Harold receives a letter from an old coworker Queenie Hennessy informing him that she has cancer, and that the outlooks are not great. His relationships with Queenie is complicated and full of revealed twists and turns that the reader finds out throughout the novel.
One of my favorite components of this book is how the author, Rachel Joyce, gives the readers new details of the Harold (and other character's) life at unexpected points in an almost mundane way--often leading me to read passages a second time to make sure I didn't make up the information I had just read. Books written in this style never fail to capture, and subsequently keep, my attention. And I was quickly turning pages until the very end and eating up the story as fast as I could.
Although this novel did capture my attention, it took a little bit to hook, line, and sinker. I was not quite sure what direction "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" was going to take throughout the narrative, but by the second chapter I was hooked. Not everyone can get over a slow start, but I am glad that I stuck with it because it is an amazing and impactful story packed chalk full with love, lessons, and life-experiences. I strongly believe that everyone looking to make a change in their life (and even those who are not) pick up this book and give it a read. 12/10 would recommend!
