by Rachel Joyce

Oh my goodness, Harold Fry is a bit of a pathetic soul isn’t he, who is silently crying out for help throughout most of his unlikely journey.  The beauty of this story is its lack of logic: Harold’s decision to walk over 600 miles to ‘save’ his dying friend (a train, a car or a plane being the obvious ways to get there)of her late stage terminal cancer, is clearly mad.  His journey is of course more about his own life, the details of which emerge as he walks. The Harold we first meet seems trapped in ordinariness. As we learn more, it appears that he has worked hard to lead a normal life, and yet a happy marriage has turned sour for no obvious reason. The real tragedy only emerges as an emaciated and hallucinating Harold reaches Berwick. This is a strange but alluring tale: the classical format of a journey with many obstacles to be overcome in order to achieve one’s aim is captivating.

©Julia Welstead 2011