When I initially published my Year in Books for 2023, I reported that 75 books had been read, with Murder on the Christmas Express being the final one. I posted that about three days before the actual end of the year. Risky, because there was always the chance I'd read something else. At first, I determined not to read anything else until the new year. Always a risk. What if I didn't finish and it confused my reading challenge? There's always so much to watch around the festive season, so many distractions, so much sleepiness from all the food, that I very likely will not finish.
However, I had recently got this from the library. It was a short read, at 126 pages. Despite having masses of box sets and things to get through on streaming services, I found myself with not a lot to do. And this book was staring at me. I had already read the first couple of pages and wanted more. Since I had technically already started it in 2023, shouldn't I just read the whole thing? So I did. And I updated the post about my 2023 reads two days later.
Rachel Joyce found her place as an author through her first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a novel which I enjoyed very much as well as it's sequel The Love song of Miss Queenie Hennesy. Having previously said that she felt Maureen and Harold should now be left alone to continue life together, having been through enough, it seems that she felt there was a little more to be told after all. Maureen Fry needed her own final journey in order to truly come to terms with the loss of her son.
Her journey, made by car and not by walking, is linked to the trip made by Harold ten years prior and to Queenie and the story she told.
Harold and Rex feature as side characters, usually at the other end of the phone. We also see the return of one person from Harold's journey.
Mostly this is about Maureen. Though we know what she went through at the time of Harold's journey, and about how she dealt with the loss of her son and seemingly learned to move on, here we learn a bit more about her past and how she's really been over the last ten years. Harold went through his ritual of moving on, Maureen still needs something more.
It's very much about what she's like as a person and how she learns a few valuable lessons. Maureen is very particular and outspoken. She has to face up to a few things in order to find peace.
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