The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012) by Rachel Joyce. One day an old pensioner, Harold Fry, receives a letter from someone named Queenie, whom he had known 20 years earlier. Queenie had once done Harold a good turn, and now she is dying of cancer. Harold writes a brief letter in reply to Queenie's letter, then sets off to drop it in the post box. But his walk to the post box becomes a pilgrimage the length of Britain; he decides to walk all the way to the distant hospice where Queenie lies dying, so that he can at last thank her for the favor she did him all those years ago. The book becomes a light-hearted meditation on the virtues of walking, the nature of modern society, and the redemptive powers of having a purpose in life. Along the way, Harold meets many who want to join him on his pilgrimage, and he becomes briefly famous, but more than anything, he resolves the inner demons which have been troubling him and his wife Maureen for so many years. It's really a wonderful book, and one well worth reading. Grade: A