Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

Hi everyone

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is the third book in the Harold Fry series by Rachel Joyce. It's not a series where you need to read the books in order though I would recommend doing so just to know the backstory.
I got my book from Bol.

"Ten years ago, Harold Fry set off on his epic journey on foot to save a friend. But the story doesn't end there.
Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make.
Maureen Fry has settled into the quiet life she now shares with her husband Harold after his iconic walk across England. Now, ten years later, an unexpected message from the North disturbs her equilibrium again, and this time it is Maureen's turn to make her own journey.
But Maureen is not like Harold. She struggles to bond with strangers, and the landscape she crosses has changed radically. She has little sense of what she'll find at the end of the road. All she knows is that she must get there." 

I really enjoyed this.  
Maureen is not my favourite character in the series, she's angry, she's spitfull, impolite and disrespectful. 
But because you know what she went through, you excuse this behaviour a bit more, you sympathize with her. I am glad she changes though. She lightens up, she can see other's perspectives better, she's open to people and experiences.
The writing is easy to read, the story flows nicely and is never overly dramatic. 

Happy reading!
Helena  

Bookhaul

 Hi everyone

The Holidays are officially over (finally) and life is getting back to normal (idem).
For Christmas en New Year's I received a lot of gifts. Mostly money (to buy books with oc) and three books.

My parents gifted me with:

- Kristin Hannah: The Great Alone

- Richard Swan: The Justice of Kings

 

From my husband I received:

- Grant Snider: I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf

 

And with part of the money I received I bought myself books too:

- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Escapes

- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Protects

- Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

- Brian McClellan: Promise of Blood

- Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea

 

Have you read one or more of these? Or is there something you would like me to read asap? Please let me know!

Happy reading!
Helena

Rachel Joyce: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Hi again

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce is a companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimageof Harold Fry (which I loved).
You  can find all my Rachel Joyce reviews here.
My copy has 381 pages and I got it from Bol.

 “When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?
A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, ‘Even though you’ve done your travelling, you’re starting a new journey too.’

Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was the beginning.”

This was a particularly moving book. 

Harold Fry stole my heart, but so did Queenie Hennessy. I was hesitant to read the book, that’s why it took me such a long time to get to it but it’s absolutely beautiful.

Joyce’s writing is great, really elegant and very absorbing, she has an eye for detail and she still manages to keep the tone light, humorous and easy to digest despite the harsh reality of the book. It raises some serious life issues but it never gets dramatic or weepy. It’s emotional and very tragic, but in a nice, beautiful way. It’s definitely thought-provoking.
It’s touching, moving and so much more than a story about illness, regret, loss and death.
It made me cry and it made me smile, and sometimes both at the same time.
I loved it a lot.

As an added bonus we got gorgeous illustrations on some of the pages.

5 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena

Rachel Joyce: Perfect

Hi

Perfect is Rachel Joyce’s second novel and it has 445 pages. I loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry so I bought Perfect the moment it came out.

“In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures.
Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right?”

This certainly was a very charming novel but I didn’t love it as much as Harold Fry.

Joyce has a simple and silent humor that makes the novel easy to digest and to get through. She builds the tension very subtle, every word or gesture builds to the dramatic ending.
The novel is beautifully written, with great understanding and an eye for detail. 

One negative thing comes to mind though. I feel like Joyce tried a bit too hard. She should have simplified the part about Byron, there’s too much going on in my opinion.

4 stars

Happy reading!
Helena

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