Full disclosure, I am a huge fan of Harold and Queenie and although Maureen isn't an easy character to love, I somehow did.

A fitting and satisfactory end to the trilogy.

Recommend.

This novella is a brilliant end to the Harold Fry trilogy. I really enjoyed Harold Fry when I read it, and it's only recently that I discovered and read Queenie's story, so I was glad to pick this finale up and see how everything would end.

Maureen is a difficult character for a story, and I think making this a shorter story was a wise decision. She is all prickles and stings, she can't say the nice thing, she's awkward with people, and she is very obviously desperately unhappy. Her story is quite different to Harold's and Queenie's, and it's important to read those 2 books first so you understand what's happening. Maureen is making a journey of her own, a pilgrimage to Queenie's garden, because she can't seem to stop thinking about it. She is a reluctant, cautious traveller, and as you begin the story you wonder if she will ever actually make it. She has her own adventures and difficulties along the way, and part way through I did almost give up on her because I couldn't see how I could ever possibly understand this woman as she behaves dreadfully in some instances. But then, slowly, understand and empathise I did, until I found I felt quite emotional about the whole thing.
Start at the beginning with these books, then go all the way through.

More of a novella, this story is a follow up to two other stories in this series, from the perspective of Maureen, the wife of Harold Fry. I found it to be a little disjointed, almost as though the author had less interest and empathy in Maureen than the other characters and I struggled to engage with it.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

A great return to the Fry family. Rachel Joyce writes so touching and well, the book is a delight. Would have liked it to be a longer collection of short stories - is that greedy ?

Having read other books by this author I was really excited to be chosen to read this.
It started off well, bringing in characters from previous books but then I just lost interest in it. I can't quite put my finger on it but it didn't grip me as much as the Harold Fry story.
The subject matter of grief and mental health was written about with care and I really did feel for Maureen and the loss of her son.
Overall not my favourite book by this author- I did finish the whole thing but more because I hate leaving a book half finished rather than because I wanted to see how it ended.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

A warm welcome back in to the Fry family. This is a short novella following the life of Maureen Fry, Harold’s Wife, and the final in the trilogy. She is a woman of few words so the short length seems apt. We follow her story and learn more about Maureen and why she is the way she is. A brilliant read

Ten years after her husband Harold's pilgrimmage, Maureen Fry makes her own journey. She is very different from her husband, as is her journey, but her story too is packed with meaning and resonance. Highly enjoyed this slim novel.

“Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North” is Rachel Joyce’s third novel in the series that previously focused on Harold Fry’s mammoth walk to see his old colleague Queenie. Beautifully written, this book concentrates on Maureen and the journey she takes (physically and metaphorically) to come to terms with the suicide of their son David. In places this is a tough read, both because of Maureen’s difficulties managing social situations and because of the realistic portrayal of her distress. However, whilst Maureen is flawed, Joyce is entirely sympathetic to her and she is quite a relatable character. This is largely because of the way in which Joyce shows why Maureen acts in the way she does. I would highly recommend this novel.

Part two of the story of Harold and Maureen Fry. This book is told from Maureen's point of view. Maureen is fairly embittered by grief after the death of her son, a long time ago . After Harold's adventure, things have improved between them, Maureen is however, a difficult person. This is her book of personal discovery as she travels from the south-west to the North east of England.
A story with plenty of food for thought and a message that one should make judgements on first impressions. You cannot read the minds of others.
THanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

When Harold Fry embarked on foot on his unlikely pilgrimage across England to find old friend Queenie Hennessy, his embittered and grieving wife Maureen was left behind, taking a back seat to the action. In book two of Rachel Joyce’s trilogy, Queenie, who is dying in a hospice, gets a chance to tell the story of her love for Harold and her complex relationship with his son, David, who committed suicide. We also learn of the beautiful sea garden she created on the Northumberland coast in which she erected driftwood monuments to Harold and David.
Now, years later, Maureen gets her own story, as she decides to make a solo expedition to Queeniés garden in the hoping of reconnecting with her late son. We travel with her across the country as she makes her way irascibly towards her destination, full of self-recrimination, bitterness and anger.
Overwhelmed by traffic, with minor mishaps and odd encounters along the way, she finally reaches the garden where she must learn to understand the lessons it has to tell her.
A short but uplifting read that is a fitting finale to Joyce’s wonderful trilogy. You need to have read the previous two books to really appreciate Maureen’s journey.

This is a companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.
Maureen Fry decides to take a winter journey north in an attempt to "locate/find" her son. Her husband, Harold, had previously walked from Devon to Berwick on Tweed . Her journey is by car but is no less challenging. Maureen is an anxious person who likes things to be "just so". However the challenges of a solo car drive up to Berwick on Tweed when you don't drive long distances, don't use sat nav and are ageing provide different challenges.

Like Harold she learns to accept the kindness of strangers . There are some comic scenes when she first sets out and finds the "Services" a misnomer. By a later stop at a motorway Services something has changed.

We see Maureen as a little girl who was idolised by her father and was bright and curious, with ambitions to study French at University and wear a beret in Paris. However she is a square peg in a round hole throughout her education and her life takes a different direction.

Her love for Harold is warmly portrayed as we witness their first meeting, but she becomes jealous of Queenie for reasons which go beyond the obvious.

Her courage is tested by a car crash and its consequences and later she takes refuge with Harold's friend Kate, whose alternative way of life runs counter to everything Maureen believes in and how she lives. This is empathetically and brilliantly portrayed.

What is it that Maureen is searching for really? Does she recognise it when she finds it? I wont give spoilers here as the story takes unexpected turns.

Rachel Joyce is always psychologically astute and yet remains empathetic in her portrayal of characters who might in real life be "awkward". There is always a warmth to her writing. As a dramatist, she is great on dialogue so this will probably follow Harold Fry in being filmed.

Joyce inhabits the same writing territory as Elizabeth Strout, taking life's misfits and making us understand them.

This third book in Rachel Joyce’s Harold Fry trilogy rounds out the series by focussing on Harold’s wife, Maureen. It’s now ten years since Harold’s epic walk to see his dying friend Queenie and twenty years since Harold and Maureen’s son David died. Maureen has an emptiness and bitterness inside her that holds her back from enjoying life. Outside her family, she has always felt like a misfit; socially awkward, never knowing the right thing to say and unable to make friends easily. When a postcard arrives from Harold’s friend Kate telling them about Queenie’s sea garden that she made at her Embleton Bay cottage before her death, containing a monument to David, Maureen feels unsettled and keeps obsessing about why Queenie would have made a monument to David. Eventually Harold convinces her that she needs to drive north to Queenie’s garden to see it for herself.

Maureen’s journal becomes one of transformation. Initially she is angry, downright furious infact, at the monument Queenie erected to depict David, and even more furious when she recognises one for Harold. However, after she sustains an injury in the garden and allows Kate to take her home and look after her until she is able to drive home, she comes to accept the kindness of strangers, perhaps for the first time in her life. Through Kate’s care and kindness and the sweetness of Kate’s little granddaughter, she finally finds peace and an acceptance David’s death with a desire to find more joy in her life. A lovely tender and touching conclusion to this series.

The third book in the trilogy of Harold Fry. I loved the story and wish it could have been longer. However the first book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is my favourite as I guess it sets the scene for all the books so read that book first. So thanks to Rachel Joyce and your publisher. Also to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This is the final part of the Harold Fry storyline and is centred around Harold’s wife Maureen. Although well written, it just doesn’t pack the punch of the The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, to me it feels a bit of an unnecessary add on. The storyline is based around Maureen’s eventful journey to visit Queenie's garden in the North of England where Queenie has installed a remembrance to David, Maureen and Harold's late son. Maureen is an awkward personality and unlike Harold doesn’t connect well with strangers, however due to certain mishaps along the way she has to reach out for help and we see her drop her guard and soften. For me the transformation of her character felt rushed and not entirely believable. That said it’s an engaging read and a short book of around 140 pages, within it there are some moving moments and enough content to tug at the heartstrings. I’m not sure reading this as a self contained book would work though and think it would help to have read the previous two books in the trilogy.

Oh, Maureen! The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a book I loved when it was first published and, as the story progressed, it was Maureen that broke my heart. Maureen stayed with me and I'm so glad that Rachel Joyce has written this beautiful book where she undertakes her own pilgrimage. She's bit of a prickly character, is our Maureen, but she deserves peace and I hope that's what she has achieved. I will be rereading the trilogy very soon. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce, is the third Harold Fry book and the final in the series. It is a short story about Maureen Fry’s journey to the north of England to see Queenies’s garden.
It takes Maureen a few visits to see and feel what she was looking for when she started on her own pilgrimage. Only then can she go back home to Harold and live out the rest of her life.
Highly recommended

Rachel Joyce is one my favourite writers and meeting Maureen was like meeting an old friend. She was the final piece of the story of Harold Fry and Queenie. Absolutely lovely book. Sad, poignant and as always with Rachel’s writing, filled with a glimmer of hope.
Recommend and thank you for this lovely book. A delightful conclusion.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. This is beautifully heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, thank you for writing Maureen's journey.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

Rachel Joyce ends her trilogy which started with The unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Now it is Harold’s wife’s turn. And she is not the most likeable of the trio of Harold, Queenie and now Maureen who feature in the novels.

Once again we have a journey. Predictably Maureen drives and soon gets lost. Joyce assumes she is too old to use the sat nav or find her way by smartphone. Minus one star from this older reader.

There are lots of these assumptions about how old people act as if we, yes we, are a homogenous entity with no distinguishing features.

A plus for me was that this is short, not much more than a novella as I found it over sentimental .

Others claim it to be well written with complex characters. I found it dull. I have read and enjoyed the first in the series but this third has stretched the concept too far for this reader. Others will enjoy it though.

I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers. My views are my own.