The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Harold Fry's unlikely pilgrimage touches listeners with its indelible charm and poignant insights. Jim Broadbent is an ideal performance choice who achieves a remarkable mash-up of compassion, confusion, humor, determination, and cluelessness. Broadbent becomes Harold Fry, and everyone else Fry meets on his journey, as he crafts an irresistible listening experience. Harold's impulsive decision, both endearing and infuriating, prompts him to walk 600 miles across Britain as a symbolic farewell not only to his dying friend, but also to the spirit of his past. He makes many new beguiling friends, who all validate his bizarre quest. Each new encounter seems to understand that memories, regrets, losses, and joys fuel his sense of urgency to abandon passivity and move forward. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

April 30, 2012
When Harold Fry, a morbidly shy, retired British brewery salesman, decides on a whim to walk the distance between his home in southern England and the hospice where his long-lost friend, Queenie Hennessey, is dying of cancer, he has no idea that his act will change his life and inspire hundreds of people. The motivation behind the trek and why he is burdened by guilt and the need to atone, are gradually revealed in this initially captivating but finally pedestrian first novel by English writer Joyce. During Harold’s arduous trek, which covers 627 miles and 87 days, he uncoils the memory of his destructive rampage for which Queenie took the blame. He also acknowledges the unraveling of his marriage and his anguish about the lack of intimacy with his son. Plagued by doubt and exhaustion, he undergoes a dark night of the soul, but in the tradition of classical pilgrimages, he ultimately achieves spiritual affirmation. Joyce writes with precision about the changing landscape as Harold trudges his way across England. Early chapters of the book are beguiling, but a final revelation tests credulity, and the sentimental ending may be an overdose of what the Brits call “pudding.” Agent: Conville & Walsh Literary Agency.