The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - now the book club thread!

Thank you, Gransnet, for inviting me to take part in your discussion, and for such thought-provoking questions. I've had a really lovely morning.

hummingbird

I loved it, it was subtle and clever, and very moving. Makes you think about love, life and ageing. Read it and weep!

Hello hummingbird

That's a lovely thing to say, thank you. And it still means a lot to me to hear it.

phoenix

Apologies for my belated thanks for sending me this book.

I loved it and was drawn in from the first page. As it is set in Devon, I recognised many of the places in the first part of the journey (only recently I was in Kingsbridge for work, visiting the college.)

However there was one part that I did not see coming. I wont say which, as I would not like to spoil it for anyone who might read this but has yet to read the book, but those who know a little of my experiences will probably know what I mean. I read, recognised and understood with a feeling so strong it was practically a physical ache.

Hello phoenix

As I said earlier, I like to write about what I know and love. Kingsbridge is where my husband was brought up. The barn where Harold first sleeps outside is at the end of my lane. Even our dog made his way into the story.

topshot

Has writing a successful novel changed your life?

Hello topshot.

No, not really - I have four children. You should have seen the chaos in our house this morning. Nobody could find their school shoes after half term. These things keep you very grounded.

Pittcity

I was reading this while on holiday last week, put it down and my husband picked it up...he loved it and we both recognised things in our relationship that reflected that of Harold and Maureen.

He too thought that deck shoes could not be resoled.

We both loved the book and were surprised by the revelation about David near the end...it explained a lot.

We were both a little disappointed at the ending, I would have run away with Rex if I was Maureen!!

I wonder if Rachel had always intended this ending or if she had any alternatives in mind?

Hello Pittcity

Now that I've explained a bit about my dad, you maybe understand why I had to have this ending. Though I did try a couple of others, I always believed this was where it had to stop. There is a hint that things might get tricky but there is also a hint they might get better. Maybe it depends on what kind of person you are as to what you find.
About the decking shoes, my dad did get his resoled but he also stuck a false tooth back in his mouth once with Superglue so I don't know how safe he was!

Maggiemaybe

I loved this book and just couldn't put it down until I'd found out how it all ended for Harold and the others. I found it moving, funny and very English, if that's possible with its shades of Forrest Gump! My only disappointment was the way Harold picked up pace as he passed through Northern England. The descriptions of the Southern towns and countryside on his journey were so detailed and well written, and I was looking forward to seeing what he made of Yorkshire, Durham etc. Well he didn't - he picked up speed and fair dashed through the grim North towards the book's end. I'd like to ask Ms Joyce why this was - did she realise she'd spent too long on the journey so far and had to speed it up, or did she think it was grim up North and just not fancy the research trip?

Hello Maggie

When I started the book I was so detailed about the journey that I even included references to all the roads he takes. It was my husband who pointed out that it isn't a travel book. By the time Harold arrives North, he's in a different mindset. He's no longer so absorbed in his setting, but in understanding the past. As it happens my mother is from Brighouse, where I spent a lot of my childhood. I still go slightly weak when I hear the accent.

downwithcupcakes

When is your next book out? And can you tell us anything about it?

Hello downwithcupcakes

It's out on July the 4th. It's called Perfect and it's set in 1972 when two seconds were added to time. In my story there is also an accident and the question that preoccupies 11 year old Byron is whether the accident would have happened without the extra two seconds.

granIT

Did you know exactly how the book was going to end before you started? If so, how did you keep yourself interested?

Hello granIT

I did know the ending and I knew the middle and I knew the scene where Maureen comes after Harold and buys him a coffee. The rest I found by writing and rewriting. I had to cut lots and I have this idea that there is a crowd of deleted characters loitering about in my shed and making a nuisance of themselves.
I can't stop writing a story until it's done, even if it's driving me half mad, but I think it's a really good question and I think about it a lot because the trick of writing, especially a first novel, is to keep yourself believing you can do it. I got very interested in maps.

Clytie

I haven't read this yet but I think I must get a copy.

My question to Ms Joyce is, what is your favourite part of the book?

Hello Clytie

I could say it's very difficult for me to answer this question. You may have gathered that I struggle a lot with self confidence so I don't know that it's my place to say I have a favourite bit, but I do like Maureen and the wardrobe, oh and I like the doctor. And at events, I often read the chapter about the silver haired gentleman. I think that section is very close to me.

hokeypokey

Hi Rachel,

One of the things I liked most about the book was the way you eked out the plot and the revelations about the past. Was that difficult to do (did it take a lot of planning)?

Hello hokeypokey

I didn't want to write a story and then slam a load of backstory on top of it. I wanted the backstory to come out of the story itself, so yes, I planned really really carefully. I also wrote and rewrote and rewrote because the plans never quite work for me. I think I only really find the story by getting inside it and making mistakes.

quibble

I read somewhere that you went on a writing academy course before settling down to turn Harold Fry into a novel. Did you find this useful even though you'd been writing for years?

Hello quibble

I did go on a writing course, yes. I didn't tell anyone that I wrote for radio and I found the whole thing very challenging, but as I said earlier I think it's important to keep learning even if you think you know how to do something.

getmehrt

I thought it was interesting that you decided to write about an older person. It is not very fashionable even though older people of course have lived very rich lives. I wondered why you decided to do that and whether you have any thoughts about why the majority of novels throughout history have been about young people?

Hello getmehrt

I like writing about the people I see around me. I think there are plenty of stories about shiny bright people so they don't need me, but ordinary people I find far more inspiring, and moving too.
In my second book, Perfect, my protagonist is an 11 year old boy. What is so different is that with Harold there's a huge backstory whereas when you write from the point of view of a child, everything is new and they often think they're the only ones who've ever felt it. I do think you have to fall in love with your protagonists if you're writing about them.

icabodisitchy

Ooh, can you tell us more about your shed? I am intrigued by how people manage to write whole books. Would a shed help?!

Hello Icabod

My shed is in the garden and sometimes it's full of sunlight and at other times it's full of jam, apples and last year, six ducklings under a heat lamp. I love being in my shed but often I'm writing at the kitchen table or stopping the car on the way to school because there's something I need to write down. So a shed is a lovely thing to have but I think it would be a mistake to think you can't write a book without one.

Lowslung

A lovely, very different book, thoughtful and inspirational. Harold and Maureens characters are so intimately drawn, and very real. There will be parts of them that many people would recognise in themselves.
Thank you Gransnet!

Hello Lowslung

That's a lovely thing to say, thank you. I spend a lot of time watching and listening to other people. I'm not quite sure where Harold and Maureen came from exactly but they were very clear to me right from the beginning. When I was writing the book my children started spotting men walking by the road and calling them Harold.

crostini

I was fascinated by the echoes of Pilgrim's Progress, especially as Harold wasn't religious.

Were you saying something there? (about the importance of what we think of as religious symbolism, maybe?)

Hello crostini

I wanted to write a story that would work as a story but that could also play with ideas about what it means to have faith if you're not a churchgoer. Pilgrim's Progress was in my mind and there are references to it but it's important to me that you don't have to find them.

cazthebookworm

I too received a copy of "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry," so thank you for that GN. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down, I finished it in three sittings.
What a lovely heartwarming story it is, it restored my faith in human nature, if only there were more characters like him in the world, or perhaps there are and I just haven't met them. He and Maureen seemed almost real and I believe that people similar to them do exist in that sort of complicated relationship which needs something to set them free.
I wonder how Rachel Joyce got the idea for the book and if she knows anyone who actually gave her the inspiration? They say authors base their stories on things they know as well as their creativity.
I shall read it again and enjoy it just as much and then I shall pass it around for my friends to share.
Thank you.

Hello caz

The inspiration for the story was actually an emotional response to the news that my dad was dying. He was frightened of dying and I was frightened of losing him, and so I began writing this story in secret. I think it was probably my way of dealing with a very wild and complicated feeling of grief. My dad never knew that I was writing the story for him. I think he'd have been very embarrassed. Like Harold, he found it difficult to talk about his feelings and he always wore a jacket and tie even after four hours of surgery.