Book of the Week - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

There are a number of interesting books out at the moment, so this may well be a busy month for reading. Just as well I will be travelling fairly extensively between now and the summer. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a first novel by Rachel Joyce, an established writer in radio land. She has written over 20 original plays for Radio 4, and dramatised both classic and new novels. She has also recently completed a period drama for BBC television. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play, and has been long-listed several times for a Sony Award. Previously, she had a twenty-year career in theatre, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, and winning a Time Out Best Actress award. With this sort of pedigree there must be a good chance that Harold Fry will ultimately make it to the big screen as well. Rachel Joyce currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and four children and is working on her second novel, Perfect.

Harold Fry has been receiving a lot of advance notice and some very strong reviews are beginning to emerge. The book was also chosen as one of the Waterstone's 11 for 2012. Goldsboro Books have an exclusive signed slipcased edition, which I think is 500 copies, and this is probably the one to pick up if you do not mind a little more than the standard edition.

“When Harold Fry sets out one morning to post a letter to his dying friend Queenie he finds himself at the start of a journey that will have many beginnings, and for which he's entirely unprepared. This is a story about a huge leap of faith. It's about raw secrets tucked away behind net curtains and those moments of impulse and chance encounters that will transform us. It's about bravery and betrayal, love, loyalty and an unremarkable pair of yachting shoes. Above all, it is a book which will make your heart sing; a book about the power in how we touch each other's lives.“