Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North: From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, 3)

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But her snob trigger is still pretty sensitive. She stops to see one of Harold’s trek friends, hoping for a relaxing welcome.

Along the way, Maureen encounters many people who help shape her story in different ways. Each person helps Maureen confront different aspects of herself, whether it’s courage or vulnerability or strength – and by the end of the book, readers have seen a full transformation in Maureen.I've found that readers' reactions to the first two books have been uneven. For example, I loved The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, but did not care for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Although readers may have pondered this question over the years, Rachel Joyce didn’t originally envision this as a trilogy although one reader told her years ago, that it absolutely was. Realizing that she really had not quite let go of the characters, she decided to finally let Maureen have a voice.

Reduced by physical injury, Maureen has to accept the kindness and care Kate unstintingly gives. Captive in her disability, she connects with sweet little Maple, Kate’s granddaughter, and eventually, finally, Maureen comes to terms with her grief over David.Maybe, because it was shorter, or maybe because I am so emotionally attached to Queenie, I didn’t quite connect to this one in the same way.

I understand what the author was trying to do giving Maureen a voice to her grief at the loss of her son. While Harold walked during his journey Maureen chooses to drive and we are subjected to a lot of internal dialogue and not much interaction with others and what we do get is complaints and whining. I think that’s the biggest difference between these stories. I would like to say that Maureen had a total transformation, but that would have been unrealistic. By the story's end, Maureen had thawed somewhat and grew a bit more understanding of other people and herself.Book Genre: Adventure, British Literature, Contemporary, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mental Health, Novella