Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, The
by Joyce, Rachel
The author, Rachel Joyce, has written over twenty original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and has created major adaptations for the Classic series and Woman’s Hour, as well as a TV drama adaptation for BBC2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Play. Joyce 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; and winning a Time Out Best Actress Award and the Sony Silver. She currently lives in Gloucestershire with her family and is at work on her second novel.
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On Aug 26, 2014, CloggieDownunder said
“Beyond the window, the sky was a fragile blue, almost breakable, flecked with wisps of cloud, and the treetops were bathed in warm, golden light. Their branches swung in the breeze, beckoning him forward.” The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is the first novel by actress, radio playwright and author, Rachel Joyce. Queenie Hennessy has terminal cancer. With nothing further to be done, she sends a letter from St Bernadine’s Hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed to let Harold Fry, her one-time colleague in Devon, know. Harold, an ordinary man who has always tried hard to be unobtrusive, writes a reply, but on reflection, during his walk to the post-box, deems this insufficient. Wearing yachting shoes, and without telling Maureen, his wife of forty-seven years, he sets off to walk to Berwick-upon-Tweed, a distance of more than five hundred miles, convinced that he can save Queenie by faith alone. Along the way, he encounters the cross-section of society, and is heartened by the kindness of strangers. But he also encounters his own thoughts, fears and regrets. He finds he is no longer able to stop the memories tumbling out of his brain: memories of parents unable to show love, his anxieties with his own son, David, and the events that derailed his marriage (“In walking, he unleashed the past that he had spent twenty years seeking to avoid, and now it chattered and played through his head with a wild energy that was its own.”). In his absence, Maureen, too, is plagued by doubts and misgivings. Queenie’s letter, it seems, has become a catalyst for change. As the story progresses, the reader becomes increasingly intrigued as to why, twenty years ago, relations between Harold and Maureen distinctly cooled, Queenie left Devon without saying goodbye and Harold has not seen his son since. Joyce’s characters are appealing and multi-dimensional: Harold is immediately likeable despite his many flaws; Maureen starts off stereotypical but reveals hidden depths. Joyce treats the reader to a wealth of beautiful descriptive prose: “…the day fought against night and light seeped into the horizon, so pale it was without colour. Birds burst into song as the distance began to emerge and the day grew more confident; the sky moved through grey, cream, peach, indigo, and into blue. A soft tongue of mist crept the length of the valley floor so that the hilltops and houses seemed to rise out of cloud. Already the moon was a wispy thing” and “Harold lay in his bed, his body so taut with listening he felt that he was more silence than boy” are but two examples. Similarly, she evokes feelings and mood with wonderful skill: “But sometimes he was afraid that having one son was too much to bear. He wondered if the pain of loving became diluted, the more you had?” and “He felt dulled with such apathy it was like being at the brewery again in the years following Queenie’s departure; like being an empty space inside a suit, that said words sometimes and heard them, that got in a car every day and returned home, but was no longer connected up to other people.” Her description of Maureen’s rearrangement of the wardrobe conveys a poignancy that leaves a lump in the throat. Joyce gives the reader a novel filled with humour and heartache, wit and wisdom. The illustrations by Andrew Davidson at the start of each chapter are charming and the map by John Taylor is a helpful addition. This novel is moving, heart-warming and quite uplifting and readers will look forward to the companion volume, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.
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Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The
by Joyce, Rachel
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London, England: Black Swan, 2013. Book. Good. Small Paperback. Reprint. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Small paperback, reprint, 202gms, 383 pages. Book is in good condition with minor general wear and tear and moderate page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings.. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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Black Swan. Paperback. Used; Good. Simply Brit welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring theres something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The
by Joyce, Rachel
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London, England: Black Swan, 2014. Book. Good. Soft cover. Reprint. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Medium softcover, reprint, 272gms, 379 pages. Book is in good condition with minor general wear and tear and light page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings.. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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Black Swan, 2013-01-02. Paperback. Very Good. 19 to 25 cm tall, Octavo, (8vo). Posted within 1 working day. 1st class tracked post to the UK, Airmail tracked worldwide. Robust recyclable packaging. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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A 1st special edition for "The Big Read – Kingston University". good+ paperback, crinkles on fr. cov. only as in image, text near fine.
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… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry: The uplifting and redemptive No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller (Harold Fry, 1)
by Joyce, Rachel
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry: The uplifting and redemptive No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller (Harold Fry, 1)
by Joyce, Rachel
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel
by Joyce, Rachel
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- 2012
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Southampton, New York, USA
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Random House, 2012. First Edition. Hardcover. Like New/Like New. First Edition, First Printing (Full Number Line). Not price-clipped ($25.00 price intact). Published by Random House, 2012. Octavo. Black boards over green boards stamped in silver. Book is like new; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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Mississauga, Ontario, CAN
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London: Doubleday, 2012. First Edition . First UK Edition. Fine book in a Fine Dust Jacket. Signed and dated in the year of publication by the author on the title page. The author has also added, in her own hand, a sentence from the book , on the title page. Long listed for the Booker Prize.
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry : A Novel
by Rachel Joyce
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Random House Publishing Group, 2013. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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- 2012
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BLACK SWAN, 2012. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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BLACK SWAN, 2012. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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London: Black Swan, 2013. Later printing. Paperback. Very Good. 7th printing of this trade paperback edition. A clean, unmarked copy in printed wrappers.
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry : A Novel
by Joyce, Rachel
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Random House Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Joyce, Rachel
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London: Doubleday, 2012. A first edition, first printing published by Doubleday in 2012. A fine book in like unclipped wrapper. Some pushing to the spine tips and corners. "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" is a novel written by British author Rachel Joyce. It was first published in 2012 and became a popular and critically acclaimed work… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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- 2012
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Seattle, Washington, USA
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Random House Publishing Group, 2012. Hardcover. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel
by Joyce, Rachel
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Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2013-03-26. Paperback. Good. 5x0x8. Item Price
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce
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- Published
- 2012
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- Hardcover
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- 9780812993295
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Seattle, Washington, USA
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Random House Publishing Group, 2012. Hardcover. Good. Missing dust jacket; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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