The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

Characters:

Harold Fry

Maureen – wife

David – son

Queenie Hennessy – co-worker, dying of cancer

Rex – neighbor

Mr. Napier – boss at brewery

People Harold met on his pilgrimage:

• Garage Girl – “Believing you can make a difference.” (page 15)
• Hotel guests – “They believed in him….they had made a decision in their hearts and minds to ignore the evidence and to imagine something bigger and something infinitely more beautiful than the obvious.”  (page 37)
• Woman with drink of water and food – “You’d think walking should be the simplest thing…But it never ceases to amaze me how difficult the things that are supposed to be instinctive really are.”  (page 50)
• Hiking man and wife -  made Harold contemplate his own marriage
• Martina – woman doctor
• Silver-haired gentleman – “He (Harold) understood that in walking to atone for the mistakes he had made, it was also his journey to accept the strangeness of others….To carry a little of them as he went.”  (page 90)
• Cycling mothers – “…he knew that in meeting her (the mother who had cut herself), and listening, he was carrying another weight in his heart, and he wasn’t sure how much more of that he could take.”  (page 128)
• Actor and oncologist – neither had faith in Harold’s walk
• The follower – Wilf and dog
• The pilgrims – Kate, Rich Lion, young widower in gorilla suit

For discussion:

1. Discuss Harold:

·         He never did anything unexpected, had hardly moved from house since he retired. 

·         He did not want a retirement part or any acknowledgement. 

·         How his childhood affected him as an adult, a spouse, and a parent

2. Discuss Harold and David’s relationship: 

·         Why didn’t they speak?

·         Why couldn’t Harold offer David any comfort on his first day of school?  (pages 69-70)

·         How did Harold’s relationship with his own parents affect his parenting of David?

3. Discuss the incident at the ocean when David was swept out and Harold stopped to take off his shoes. 

4. Discuss Harold and Maureen’s relationship: 

·         How it disintegrated throughout their marriage

·         Her reaction when he first called about his plan and the fact that he did not expect any help or encouragement from her

·         How their relationship changed throughout the pilgrimage

5. Discuss Queenie.  Why did she take the blame when Harold smashed Mr. Napier’s murano glass clowns?

6. How did each person he met add to his pilgrimage?  What did he learn from each of them?

7. Consider Harold’s decision on his pilgrimage to give away everything and just ask for what he needs.  Could you do that?

8. How did Harold’s walk change when he was in the news and the pilgrims joined him? 

9. Were you surprised to read in chapter 27 that David had committed suicide years earlier?

10. What did you think about the ending?  Did you like the fact that you never learned what Maureen said?

11. Do you think different age groups will take different things from this book?  What would they focus on?  What would they learn from the book?

12. What did you learn from the book?