The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Harold sends postcards to Maureen, Queenie, and the garage attendant. He watches two fire-eating street performers in front of the cathedral. Suddenly, an old man from the crowd jumps in between the performers and begins dancing strangely to the music. The performers turn off the music, and the crowds disperse, but the man continues to dance as if in a trance. As Harold watches him, he remembers a time at the holiday camp in Eastbourne when David won a dance contest. The emcee made fun of young David’s dancing passionately as if no one were watching, but Harold was again paralyzed as to how to react in his son’s defense. As he grew up, David became more withdrawn and isolated from his parents and the world, and father and son became more detached, as they had no shared interests. Shaken from his memory, Harold sees the old man stop dancing and motion for him to come over. Lifting his arms as if to embrace Harold, the old man begins to sway, and they are dancing separately yet moving together. After the old man leaves, Harold purchases gifts for Maureen and Queenie in the cathedral’s souvenir shop and continues his trek to Exeter.

Having become accustomed to the peacefulness of the countryside, Harold becomes nervous in the bustling din of Exeter. He spends an entire day meandering through the busy city, dizzied by its endless variety of shopping and dining choices. Harold intends to find new trekking supplies but ends up purchasing only a flashlight, deciding his yacht shoes and pockets are just as good as expensive boots and a rucksack. As he roams through Exeter, he wonders if Queenie ever visited the town. He remembers how sad she was when her father passed away. Harold stops at a café for lunch, and as soon as he is seated, a well-dressed man with silver hair takes the seat next to him. Without any introduction, the man exclaims that saying goodbye to someone is hard. Harold replies by telling the man about his journey to Queenie. While the man eats a tea cake, Harold shares that she was not silly or vain like other women; he also tells him about the cruelty of her male coworkers. The man shares half his tea cake with Harold and asks if he might pose a question. He explains to Harold that he visits Exeter every Thursday to spend time with a secret male lover who is younger than he. During their time together, he licks the man’s shoes; he noticed the shoes are shabby. He wants to buy his lover new shoes but does not want to offend him, as he deeply admires and cares for the man. Briefly taken aback by the private revelation, Harold considers that so many people walk around carrying unseen burdens. He tells the distinguished man he should buy the shoes. As Harold walks away, he ponders the man’s willingness to trust him with his story. Harold thinks, “He understood that walking to atone for the mistakes he had made, it was also his journey to accept the strangeness of others” (90).

Despite his regular postcards and nightly phone calls, Maureen still does not understand why Harold is walking to Queenie. She is so angry and humiliated by his actions that she cannot even talk to David about it. Maureen also regrets the lie she told Rex about Harold’s injury. Rex comes to the house each day with gifts for Harold, and Maureen fears she will soon have to tell him the truth. When Harold calls from Exeter, he tells Maureen he thinks he might be walking for David and explains how the walking sparked his memories of their son’s childhood. Angered by his revelation, Maureen asks if Harold has spoken to or seen David. When Harold says no, Maureen scolds him for using their son as a rationalization for his journey and hangs up. Feeling guilty for her anger, Maureen tries to call Harold back but cannot reach him. That night, her sleep is troubled by a horrific nightmare in which her liver is outside her body, and when she awakens before dawn, she decides to talk to David. When she tells him about Queenie, David explains what is wrong with Harold and that she should see a doctor soon. David reminds her that he knew about Queenie and met her once when she visited the house with a message for Harold. With that revelation, Maureen knows she will visit the doctor immediately.

Supplied with a visitor’s guide to Britain and petroleum jelly from the pharmacist for his feet, Harold leaves Exeter bound for his next stop in Thorverton. The pharmacist warns bad weather is approaching, but Harold moves on, thankful for the fresh air and the open road. Using his guidebook, he enjoys identifying the flora and fauna of the area. As he takes in the beauty of the natural landscape, he remembers Maureen working in the garden when David was a baby. However, his thoughts turn to his teenage years and the day his mother left. He remembers it in vivid detail, including the way she looked and that she smelled like marshmallows. He begged her to let him come with her, but she refused. At first, his father was in denial and insisted she would return. When he realized that she was not coming back, his father threw her clothing all over the house and the front lawn. In the years to follow, Harold’s father brought home many women whom he called “Auntie,” and Harold remembers how the women always brought him sweets. After six months and no word from his mother, Harold’s father discarded all her belongings and erased her memory from the home. When the children at school teased him for not having a mother, Harold stopped going, and the “aunties” forged excuses for why he was absent. Harold finally received a letter from his mother, but it was full of misspelled words that stated only that she was not good at being a mother. Harold remembers a time when Queenie offered him marshmallows on one of their drives, and he could not eat them.

Harold meets more people along the way, including a social worker who says he encounters many people carrying heavy burdens but is not always sure how to help them. Harold explains that sharing what he is doing helps people find hope in their own lives: “Harold thought of the people he had already met and passed. Their stories had surprised and moved him, and none had left him untouched” (99). He tells each person he meets about Queenie and what he likes most about her, including her proclivity to sing backward and her love of sweets. One night, Harold awakens from a nightmare to a debilitating pain in his right leg. He tries massaging it, but nothing helps, and the agony greatly slows his progress the following day. He begins to doubt he will make it in time to save Queenie. He stops in Bickleigh, purchases gifts for Queenie and Maureen, eats a meal, and wonders if he will be able to complete the journey. Harold’s 10th day of walking is filled with misery as he limps along in pain. Worse than the throbbing in his leg are the torturous memories that surface as he remembers his troubled relationship with David. He recalls how David never understood his sense of humor and found his jokes cruel. Harold thinks about the day he tried to congratulate David on his acceptance to Cambridge, and his son did not respond or even look him in the eye. Back on the road, Harold decides to take an easier route and begins following the Great Western Way just as storm clouds emerge on the horizon. Soon it begins to rain, and Harold is quickly soaked; cars whizz by, spraying him with water and mud. A kind driver stops and offers to help, but Harold explains he must continue walking. Feeling defeated and at his breaking point, Harold wishes Queenie would give him a sign he is making the right choice. The weather clears, giving way to a resplendently colored sky. Warmed by the sun and air, Harold is revived, and his hope in himself is renewed.

Maureen goes to the doctor’s office, but she becomes anxious when she has trouble signing in to the automated registration system. The receptionist informs Maureen her regular doctor is not in, but she can see the intern. Maureen considers leaving but remembers how much courage she had to summon to leave the house and fears she will not return if she leaves. After waiting in the crowded reception area, Maureen is called back to see the intern, and they discuss Harold’s epic walk to save Queenie. The intern is shocked to hear that Harold thinks he can cure Queenie’s cancer by walking. Maureen goes on to explain that she fears Harold has Alzheimer's disease because he spends most days sitting in the same chair, and the disease runs in Harold’s family. After many years passed without Harold’s speaking to his father, a woman claiming to be his stepmother contacted him to tell him his father was in a nursing home. Harold’s father died before he was 60. Maureen wonders if Harold’s walk should be stopped. The intern assures Maureen that Harold is likely just experiencing a depressive episode and sends her home with sleeping pills for herself. After she hears herself explain the situation to the intern, Maureen recognizes her lack of compassion for Harold’s decision: “There was even a beauty in it, if only because Harold was doing something he believed in for once, and against all the odds” (114). Though they have grown apart, Maureen cannot imagine her life without Harold. After buying ingredients for dinner at the store, she returns home and avoids talking to Rex as she hurries inside.

The narrative flashes back to a time when Napier assigned Harold and Queenie to go on the road visiting pubs to settle their accounts with the brewery. Napier was an egotistical man who was in his third marriage and held a prized collection of Murano glass clowns. As he went over the instructions with Harold, Napier made a derogatory comment about Queenie and told Harold to watch her. He also made a snide comment about David and warned Harold not to touch the glass clowns. Since they had not spoken after the incident in the cupboard, Harold was anxious for his and Queenie’s first drive together. He drove cautiously and quietly and was surprised by her savvy business skills when she handled a difficult customer with precision and ease. Queenie finally broke the awkward silence by thanking him for his kindness the day he found her. Harold was uncertain how to respond and simply said he was glad to help. From that day on, he vowed to take care of Queenie.

Returning to the present timeline, Harold begins his 12th day on the journey in foul weather and with the pain in his leg worsening. Disoriented by the cloudy skies and the searing pain, Harold passes from town to town in a trancelike state. He calls Maureen, and she is kind to him, even offering to send him personal items from home. Harold wants to say so many things to her but feels he cannot with all that passed between them, and they end the call before Harold retires for the night. He stays in bed late the following day, weighed down by his throbbing leg and saddened heart. His shoes are falling apart, and he does not even bother to groom himself or eat breakfast before taking to the road. As he walks toward Bath, Harold questions what went wrong in his marriage. He thinks back on when their relationship with David began to fall apart and remembers how Maureen blamed him for everything that happened. David had begun wandering around at night and cursing his father when he came home. Maureen’s anger turned to cold disdain, and she moved into the spare bedroom. Harold is jolted from his memories as he trudges down the road, narrowly avoiding a collision with speeding cars, so lost in his anguish he briefly goes the wrong way and must retrace his steps.

The boardinghouse he chooses is also hosting a group of female cyclists riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The women enjoy themselves late into the night, and Harold cannot sleep for the noise. Examining himself the next morning, he sees his haggard appearance and finds the condition of his leg worsened. The pain brings a brief flashback to seeing his father in the nursing home. He joins the lively group of women at breakfast, and the leader addresses him directly, apologizing for the noise the previous night. She loudly shares that she does not need a man and is enjoying her life of freedom. Proudly showing her underarm hair and regaling the group with tales of her recent sexual encounters, the woman appears to be happy, but as they leave, Harold notices two fresh cut wounds on her arm. He does not understand her promiscuous behavior, as he has only been with Maureen. As he returns to the road, he makes little progress and stops to rest often. He sees a roadside memorial and stops to look at the photo attached to the cross. Staring at the photo of the tragic victim and a message written from a son to a father, Harold does not think he can bear much more. He thinks of David’s curses and the woman’s wounds: “He wished he could have said something; something to make her never do it again […] he was carrying another weight in his heart, and he wasn’t sure how much more of that he could take” (128). As he reaches Taunton, a painful memory emerges from 20 years ago when he opened a door. He fights to keep the memory at bay. His leg erupts in pain, and he collapses to the ground.

From her window, an Eastern European woman named Martina witnesses Harold’s fall. She rushes to help him into her home. She has a barking dog that frightens him, and he immediately wants to leave and begs her not to send him to the hospital. Noticing her heavy accent, Harold assumes she is in the country just to get papers, and he becomes increasingly fearful of her barking dog. After he explains about his walk to Queenie, Martina looks at the condition of his shoes and clothing and proclaims there is no possible way he will make it in that state. Martina curses often, which reminds Harold of David. Gradually, Harold warms to her hospitality and allows her to help him to a room to rest. She explains she is from Slovakia and shares the home with her partner. When Harold mentions that his son always wanted a dog, she tells him the dog belongs to her partner. After rereading Queenie’s letter, Harold falls into a deep sleep. Later, Martina awakens him and begins to tend to his feet. She trained as a doctor in Slovakia, but since coming to England, she can find work only as a cleaner. Harold is ashamed of his feet and tries not to make eye contact as she cleans them and dresses the wounds: “He looked at the ceiling so as not to look in the wrong place. It was such an English thing to do, but he did it anyway” (137). While she works on his feet, Harold remembers his 16th birthday, when his father kicked him out of the house. He thinks that even though he created a good life afterward, he never truly escaped his past. Martina is concerned about his leg injury and insists he stay until it heals. Her partner enjoys walking, and she offers Harold a pair of his boots, but Harold prefers to keep using his yachting shoes.

After a brief call to Maureen, Harold tries to rest but is plagued by dreams about the past. Martina periodically checks in on him and changes his bandages. He tells her his life story, including the account of his mother’s abandonment and his father’s alcoholism. Afterward, he feels like a great weight lifted off him. While Martina is away at work, Harold repairs his glasses with a bandage, prunes her garden, and bonds with the dog. When she returns in the evening, she presents his yachting shoes, which she had resoled and polished. Over dinner that evening, Martina reveals that her partner left her for a woman with whom he has two children. He left all his belongings, including his dog, and she does not think he will return. Harold tries to encourage her to have faith in the impossible. He plans to leave the next morning, and Martina gifts him two pairs of socks, duct tape for his feet, a rucksack, and a compass, all things that belonged to her partner. The next morning before setting back out on the trail, Harold leaves Martina a postcard and a set of placemats he purchased for Queenie.

Maureen feels guilty for lying to Rex about Harold’s whereabouts. After talking with David, she decides to tell him the truth. As she sits lonely in the house, Maureen thinks back over her life and all she gave up by being a wife and a mother. She used to enjoy gardening and cooking but now sees how empty her life became in the last 20 years. Despite barely knowing Rex, she goes next door to confess her lie. He admits he suspected something was wrong. When Maureen breaks down in tears, Rex invites her in for tea, and she explains Harold’s walk to Queenie. She confesses they have not had much of a marriage in the last 20 years, and she fears he will not come home. Rex suggests packing the car and going after him, but Maureen silently fears she will not know what to say when she sees him. He asks her if she liked Queenie, and Maureen explains she only met her once, right before she suddenly and inexplicably disappeared from the brewery. Queenie came to their house once, bringing flowers; her face showed traces of sobbing. Harold never knew what happened to her, though he heard there might have been trouble with Napier. Maureen explains, “We said a lot of things once. Things we shouldn’t have said. When it came to Queenie disappearing, I didn’t want to know” (151). Rex takes Maureen for drinks and dinner at the Start Bay Inn, and the alcohol and seaside view soothe her. She retreats in her memory to the night she first met Harold 47 years ago at a dance. She watched his wild and carefree dancing, transfixed by his energy. They made eye contact, and Harold approached her and told her a joke. When she laughed until she hiccupped, he got her a glass of water, and they spent the rest of the night dancing and laughing together. Back in the present, Rex notices Maureen is distracted. They both stand silently and watch the sunset while Maureen thinks of how much she misses Harold.