The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

"When Harold Fry leaves home one morning to post a letter, with his wife hovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other.  He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone.  All he knows is that he must keep on walking.  To save someone else's life."

I must have a thing about older men at the moment as the last two books I have read are all about older men who go off on an adventure!  Rachel Joyce really captures the imagination and as soon as I started this book I could not put it down.  Harold Fry is an unlikely hero as he is just a quiet unassuming man who is newly retired and trying to find things to do with his day.  As soon as he receives a letter from Queenie, an old friend who is dying of cancer, he writes back and intends to take it to the nearest letterbox but he carries on walking to the next one and then the one after that until soon he is out of his village and heading North.  The journey he then embarks on is not just a physical one but also mental as the more he walks the more his memories come back to haunt him.
The relationship between Harold and his wife Maureen is very complicated for reasons that become clear as the book evolves.  She doesn't understand why he is walking and he finds it difficult to explain it to her.  I grew very fond of Maureen as the book develops although at the start I couldn't warm to her as she seemed such a cold character and one I couldn't see with Harold but their story soon becomes clear and I found her funny and heart warming.
As for Harold he is just such a character that you instantly fall for him.  You will him to carry on walking even when he finds it so tough all he wants to do is go home.  Some of the people he meets along the way are kind to him but I have to say that it all got a bit much for me when the Pilgrims started walking with him and took over what was, for Harold a walk of need and not so much a desire to be famous.  A nod to our society maybe?
All I can say is rush out and get this book and enjoy your walk with Harold, enjoy the stunning countryside that England has to offer and most of all enjoy a stonking good read.