The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The international bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012) is the first novel by author Rachel Joyce and the first in a trilogy, followed by The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (2014) and Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North (2022). The novel was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Young also wrote the screenplay for the novel’s film adaptation, which stars Jim Broadbent as Harold and will be released in 2023.

Before she began writing novels, Joyce was an actor and a playwright for 20 years. She is also the author of Perfect, The Music Shop, and Miss Benson’s Beetle. Her books have sold over five million copies worldwide and been translated into 36 languages.

This guide uses the 2012 Random House edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains discussion of drug and alcohol abuse and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Harold and Maureen Fry’s daily breakfast routine is interrupted by the delivery of a letter from an old friend of Harold’s: Queenie Hennessy, a former coworker, writes to inform Harold that she is dying of cancer and receiving hospice care in Berwick-on-Tweed. Not having spoken to Queenie in 20 years, Harold is stunned. While walking to the mailbox to send her a reply, he realizes it will be delivered faster if he walks it directly to the post office. On the way, he stops at a garage and shares Queenie’s story with the young attendant, who explains that having faith helped her aunt who had cancer. Inspired, Harold decides to walk to Berwick to see Queenie; he hopes knowing he is coming will keep her alive. He phones the hospice to tell them he is walking from his home in Kingsbridge to Berwick and to tell Queenie to wait for him. When he calls Maureen to inform her, she says it is preposterous to walk over 600 miles with no prior planning. Despite her doubts and his lack of proper footwear, Harold sets off.

At home, Maureen goes about her routine of the past 20 years. She scrubs the house spotless, including the room of their son, David. She avoids going outside or encountering the neighbors. Maureen and Harold’s marriage is strained, and she fears he left her for good; she is cold and cruel to him, having never fully recovered from the tragedy they endured 20 years ago. She did not know Queenie but cannot understand her husband’s compulsion to visit the woman on her deathbed. The Frys’ widower neighbor, Rex, asks about Harold; Maureen is ashamed and says he is in bed with an injury.

Harold’s journey begins pleasantly, as he enjoys being outside and seeing the first blooms of spring. He also relishes his personal encounters as he stops in each town. The people he meets along the way, including a silver-haired gentleman in a café and a woman at a farmhouse with cuts on her wrists, share their stories with him. As he tells them why he is traveling, people reach out with compassion and kindness to help him with any need that arises. A kind mother offers him water, food, and a place to sit and rest; a Slovak doctor named Martina takes him into her home when he injures his leg. Along with tending to his wounds, Martina allows him to release some of his guilt about his son’s death and his failing marriage. The more he walks, the more he is confronted with painful memories from the past. He distracts himself by purchasing gifts for Queenie and Maureen and writing letters home to his wife and the garage attendant who inspired his trip.

He remembers his traumatic childhood: His mother abandoned him, and he was left to live with his alcoholic father. After being sent away from home at 16, Harold began a new life, intent on leaving behind the sadness of his youth. He and Maureen fell in love instantly and began a beautiful life together. However, when their son was born, the wounds of Harold’s past resurfaced, and he doubted his ability to be a good father since his dad was a failure. Despite loving David, Harold struggled to show him affection. As David grew into adolescence, he emerged as an intelligent but contemptuous person who was often at odds with his father. Maureen blamed Harold for their lack of connection, and Harold always felt inadequate as a father. When he began working at the brewery, he found a job that suited him well and provided for his family. He met Queenie there by chance when he found her crying in the closet because her coworkers were cruel to her. Harold showed her compassion, and when their pompous boss, Napier, paired them to go out in the field, Harold began to learn more about the curious little woman. She was physically plain yet quirky and energetic, and Harold came to enjoy their lengthy car rides together.

Meanwhile, Harold’s problems at home grew worse. David went off to college at Cambridge, but after graduation he failed to find a job, became severely depressed, and developed a substance abuse problem. Both parents knew about the issue but hid their knowledge from each other and covered up the evidence. David died by suicide after hanging himself in the garden shed at their home, and Harold found him. At the funeral home, Maureen wanted to see David one last time, but Harold chose not to, and Maureen never forgave him for not saying goodbye to their son. After the tragedy, Maureen was blinded by denial and stopped speaking to Harold. Eventually, the couple began sleeping in separate bedrooms. Harold began drinking heavily. One night, he broke into the brewery and smashed Napier’s collection of collectible crystal clowns. Queenie took the blame, and Napier fired her on the spot. Before leaving town, she stopped by Harold’s house to say goodbye, but he was not home. Maureen, longing to punish Harold, never told him about the visit.

While Harold battles the travails of the road and the emotional torment of his past, Maureen embarks on her own emotional journey at home. After feeling guilty for lying to Rex, she shares the truth of Harold’s journey and of the last 20 years with him. He shows her kindness and becomes a friend, helping her find healthy ways to deal with her grief. Together they take picnics, chart Harold’s journey on the map, and plant a garden. Maureen decides to visit Harold in Yorkshire; she confesses she misses him and tries to convince him to abandon his journey. Her show of concern warms him, but Harold expresses his need to continue. When the garage attendant receives a letter from Harold confessing all his past failures, she visits Maureen and convinces her to go to her husband in Berwick.

South of Coventry, a troubled young man named Wilf and a large group of people join Harold. Inspired by him, they also want to become pilgrims. However, they create chaos and frustration. When he discovers most of them just want publicity, he decides to press on to Berwick alone. Battling bouts of severe depression, exhaustion, and harsh weather, Harold slogs across the country, becoming despondent and disoriented. Back home, Maureen continues her journey to inward peace and acceptance, yet she fears for Harold’s safety as his condition deteriorates. When he calls to say he is quitting, Maureen and Rex encourage Harold to soldier on. Harold finally reaches Berwick just as his shoes fall to pieces. When he finally sees Queenie, he realizes the gravity of her condition; she lies silent and still in bed, left mute by the ravages of a cancerous tumor in her mouth. Harold leaves the gifts he bought along the way, saying little to her as he departs. Maureen travels to Berwick and finds him physically and emotionally broken. When the hospice calls and informs them Queenie passed, Harold and Maureen go to see her body together. This act heals the wound of his not seeing David’s body 20 years ago. After paying their respects, they walk along the seashore reminiscing about the night they met. Remembering something funny Maureen said, they collapse into each other in joyous laughter as they look out over the ocean, accepting all they have lost yet thankful to still have each other.