EXCERPT: It was too early for birdsong. Harold lay beside her, his hands neat on his chest, looking so peaceful she wondered where he travelled in his sleep. Certainly not the places she went: if she closed her eyes, she saw roadworks. Dear God, she thought. This is no good. She got up in the pitch-black, took off her nightdress and put on her best blue blouse with a pair of comfortable slacks and a cardigan. 'Harold?' she called. 'Are you awake?' But he didn't stir. She picked up her shoes and shut the bedroom door without a sound. If she didn't go now, she never would.

ABOUT 'MAUREEN FRY AND THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH': 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.

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this beautifully written novella. Rachel Joyce is back to writing what she does best.

I enjoyed this every bit as much as The Love Songs of Queenie Hennessy, and rather more than The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. BTW, you will need to read the preceding two books or this will make very little sense to you.

Maureen isn't the easiest person to like. There is no way she could be described as a 'people person'. She is rigid in both her beliefs and actions. What other people think matters very much. And yet, like her I did. I was mortified for her over her little 'accident'. I cringed along with her at Kate's living conditions. I wanted to grab her and make her sit down and properly take in Queenie's garden. But of course, I couldn't.

When Maureen sets out on her journey, she doesn't realise that she's going to find her true self, but ultimately that is what she does.

A wonderful read that had me in tears at times but left me smiling.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#MaureenFrysOnHerWay #NetGalley

I: @rachelcjoyce @randomhouse @transworldbooks

T: @randomhouse @transworldbooks

#contemporaryfiction #friendship #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: THE AUTHOR: Rachel Joyce has written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, winning a Time Out Best Actress award and the Sony Silver. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday for providing a digital ARC of Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

What a beautiful book. Maureen Fry takes a journey to find a memorial to her dead son, she also finds her lost self. The last in the Harold Fry series and a delight to read.

This book is easily read on its own merit so you don’t need to read the Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.
It is beautiful, albeit a little sad in places and very thought provoking.
Maureen’s journey is eventful and the stubborn reserved old lady mellows over time.
A truly joyous book. I loved it 😍

I enjoyed Rachel Joyce's Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and so I have been looking forward to reading Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North.
Just my sort of book, a touch of comedy, fantastic characters, and a well-told believable story. Perfect.
Somehow it had slipped my attention that there was a book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy available.
It is of little importance whether you have read the previous books. It did not spoil my enjoyment of this book that I had read 'Harold' a long time ago and not read Queenie, there is enough explained about them in this book.
I will, however, be searching out Queenie, and then perhaps reading them in order as they are fairly short, enjoyable reads.
Thank you Rachel for a great day's reading and my thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy for honest review.

For some reason I assumed Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North was going to feature Antony Gormley’s eponymous statue but, of course, it didn’t! Maureen Fry is a rather unlikeable character and, while I had sympathy with her depressive state, her constant sniping and general unpleasantness towards those she encounters on her journey makes her extremely difficult to like. Rachel Joyce’s writing style and, in particular, her beautiful and, at times unusual, descriptive prose elevates this short book into a paean to nature. Maureen’s ultimate redemption saves not only her but the book itself. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

Happy pub day to this little gem: small but beautiful, delicately formed, and every facet sparkling with humanity and gentle humor. It is a fitting end to the story that began ten years ago with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and continued with The Love Song of Queenie Hennessy. How wonderful now to see Harold’s wife Maureen take her turn in the spotlight.

At just 144 pages, this slender novella punches way above its weight. We join Maureen on her own pilgrimage; one she must make to lay ghosts to rest and make peace with the past. It’s a story heavy with meaning, rich in imagery and as poignant as it is uplifting.

Maureen has always been a difficult character to warm to, but here, her prim fussiness comes across as more endearing than annoying. Her regular phone calls to Harold to make sure he was eating properly made me smile. More than anything, though, it is her courage — as a woman in her seventies, undertaking this journey alone — than shines brightest.

As always, Joyce’s prose is a delight to read. Lyrical and liquid, it vibrates with emotion and demands a similar response in the reader. The closing chapters, as the story builds to a crescendo, are deeply, viscerally moving.

I especially loved the metaphorical nature of Maureen’s journey. That it was one of self-discovery, acceptance and forgiveness. That, against all expectations, she made new friends. And, above all, that she was able to return to Harold with a lighter heart and softer soul.

While this is a book that can be read as a stand-alone — Joyce weaves in enough background for it to make sense — I do recommend reading its two forerunners first to get the full experience.

I should be one of the few person in the Western world who didn't read Harold Fry but I will read it soon as I feel hard for this story.
Maureen is not a likeable character but she grew on me and I felt for this woman who is facing a world she doesn't recognise.
A short story that I read in one sitting as the storytelling is excellent and the story full of emotions and thought provoking.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I have read the first two of this series and absolutely loved them. This one took me a while as I struggled to warm to Maureen at the start however I think that is all part of the story, It takes us on journey both physically and metaphorically as we travel along with Maureen on her way up North to visit a memorial for her son. Unlike Harold and Queenie, the characters in the previous two books, Maureen isn't naturally open and friendly with people, she doesn't take an interest in their lives like Harold did and finds it hard to relate to people on a more personal level, however as we progress we get to learn more about her and why she is the way she is.
For me the last few chapters really summed it all up. This book is beautifully written and a fantastic closure to the series.

lovely read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

This is the closure of the series of 3 books , however I have not read the previous books and I do have to say that this can be read as a stand alone book as Rachel Joyce describes so well the interaction of the previous books. Maureen was certainly a strange lady and i personally found it very difficult to relate to her and her strange thought processes. I cannot comprehend someone who was so full of bitterness, sadness, not attempting tp understand other people and so full of revenge for her past life. I can see that this would give some comfort to those that have been bullied or those who are so negative about themselves. Her whole journey was revengeful as she considered that her son had been taken away from her and she was the only one to grieve for his loss. The final few chapters were amazing and straightened Maureen and her negativity completely as by the end of the journey she had realised that her revengeful emotions were not necessary at all and that she could share her son with others.

Absolutely perfect. The perfect end to the series that holds my heart. Loved hearing Maureen’s story, and the little glimpses of Harold and Rex were a treat. This was wonderful

I had no idea when I started this book that it was so short - that's often a problem with Kindle unless you check the stats before you start. I am always in too much of a hurry to begin reading.

Anyway I did not enjoy this third book as much as the previous two. Maureen has never been a very likeable character and most of the time I wonder how Harold puts up with her. On the other hand I was sometimes in sympathy with her when I was maybe not supposed to be. Kate's awful motor home would have put me off too.

I was reading mostly for the sake of it until the moment Maureen had her accident in the garden, and then the whole direction of the story changed. Maybe her redemption came a little too fast and a little too easily but it was tear jerking stuff. For me this was going to be a three star book, but I am giving it an extra star just for the last couple of chapters.

A poignant, emotional ending to the harold fry trilogy. I found it a very moving story of Maureen's grief and bitter resentments which had been built up over many years, and the gradual beginnings of acceptance of herself and others.
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

I can't believe it's ten years since The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry! Maureen's trip is slightly less epic than his but no less transformative or emotional. She is a closed book much of time, wanting nobody's help and being abrasive at times to people who are offering friendship and love. During the journey Maureen realises no woman is an island and starts to allow others in, to let herself get closer to people and be cared for.
There are references to the pandemic throughout the novel and it seemed very relevant to me, as so many of us had pulled from making new connections over the last few years. So this is a timely reminder of the positivity of allowing yourself to be open to opportunities to make friends and have new experiences.

A charming observation of one woman's long overdue reactions to life. I hadn't read the previous book about her husband Harold's life changing walk, but 72 year old Maureen's journey to deal with past jealousies and finally face her son's suicide is fascinating. Some is all too real, such as when she gets lost and has an accident, but humanity always shines through. We see Harold's love for his prickly wife and we understand why she is like this. What a grief and guilt to bear for 30 years. A beautiful story. #netgalley #maureenfryandtheangelofthenorth

This was a short, quick read and when I started it I thought, that’s a shame I’ll finish this quickly. But, this book is such a disappointment nothing like the first one Harold Fry which was a delight to read. I found this one just didn’t get anywhere and the story just didn’t develop. Quite a disappointment. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

“How do we accept the unacceptable?” one of the characters asks in this novel and that really is what this book is about, trying to find a way to come to terms with something which seems unbearable.

Well my goodness this is an emotional read. Maureen has featured in the previous two books of course but has not been the main focus. In fact, I’m going to try to carefully word this review in case you haven’t read the others. When Maureen sets off on her journey, she’s a bit more practical than her husband was ten years previously and she drives rather than walks to the north east of England. Maureen has been coping in her own way with terrible loss, or should I say that she has not been coping. Throughout the journey, she makes all kinds of discoveries including about herself and she doesn’t always like what she finds out. “… she could go where she liked, but she would never get away from herself.”

Rachel Joyce writes with such great understanding into the human condition and this book is a study on how grief can affect someone throughout many years, particularly if they put that grief into a box and try to keep a lid on it. Although Maureen comes across as prickly and quite rude at times, my heart went out to this woman who was grieving not just for what she had lost but for all the possibilities that had also been lost.

Yet for all the sorrow, this book is not completely bleak. The relationship and deep love expressed in simple ways between Harold and Maureen is very touching. The help Maureen finds herself having to accept from strangers changes her in some ways too. What she finds at the end of her pilgrimage unexpectedly brings peace and some form of acceptance to Maureen.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is a beautiful conclusion to the Harold Fry trilogy, perhaps the most moving of the three books. Once you have read it, you will realise what a clever and poignant title that is. It may be a short book at just under 150 pages but it is a powerful story of resilience, healing and above all love.

The repercussions of grief.

Kate, one of Harold Fry’s walking companions on his unlikely pilgrimage to deliver a letter to his friend and work companion Queenie, has written with the news that Queenie has died. However, the garden she created has now been opened to the public. In this garden is a memorial to David, Harold, and Maureen’s son.

Maureen has never recovered from David’s suicide some thirty years previously. The pain she feels is as deep in her life now as it was when David first carried out his plan to end his life. The idea that there might be somewhere that she can reconnect to him, is enough incentive to make the journey from their home near Exeter to Northumberland, passing the Angel of the North.

What an enlightening and beautiful storyline about Maureen’s journey as she travels almost the length of Britain to hopefully find some comfort, some reprieve from the pain of the past thirty years of mourning David’s loss. Maureen, through the agony of these past thirty years has become quite a prickly being. She’s not keen on change, being hugged and loves everything to be in its right place and hates dusty surfaces. On this journey, she’s going to face most of her worst pet hates.

A truly memorable and wonderful novel. Thank you, Rachel Joyce, for telling Maureen Fry’s story.

Rony

Elite Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

It is 10 years after Harold's momentous pilgrimage and we return to the Fry household where Maureen is off on a journey. She fusses and flits before leaving Harold and we join her on her journey where she has some accidents and incidents and we get to see some of the characters from Harold's walk. The pain that has dominated Maureen's life from the loss of her son is exquisitely described and the emotional rollercoaster with her internal dialogue torments her day and night but this is balanced with some touching moments of happiness. Joyce excels again and a huge emotional intelligence and sensitivity in her writing. It ends on a life-affirming note which is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy- a wonderful end.

It was lovely to revisit the life of Harold Fry. I remember very clearly the time when I read of his Unlikely Pilgrimage and found it a charming and moving story which has now been turned into a film.

This book provides the third and final instalment as we meet his wife Maureen embarking on her own very different, but nonetheless, hugely significant journey.

Maureen decides to drive more than 400 miles north for her particular pilgrimage. Although this seems less romantic than Harold's walk, her journey is still eventful and both amusing and sad.

Her dilemmas in having to ask directions, to find refreshments, to deal with unforeseen events are all very relatable as are her conflicting emotions. Her character, too, being both sharp and bristly as well as occasionally kind and appreciative is also very real.

Maureen's purpose in travelling so far is very sad, yet beautifully told. And when she reaches her destination she has learnt much more about herself, coming to terms with her past and being filled with hope for her future. It is a delightful story, not least because it is so compact. It's a book to cherish and to return to time and again.