The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce - Read Harold Fry first!

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My book club chose the Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy for our February meeting title. This title is a companion book to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. We have a rule in our club that we will only read books that no one in the group has read. Since someone had read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry that book could not be selected for the club. But, we read somewhere that Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy could stand alone and did not require having read the first title. Our book club determined this was not a true statement. The only person who truly enjoyed this second title was the person who read the first title.

Miss Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is dying. She has written a letter to Harold Fry letting him know she is dying and, apparently, that she has been in love with him since they worked together many years ago. She is aware that Harold has now undertaken a 600 mile walk to come to her and hopes his long walk will give her something to look forward to and she will stay alive until he arrives.

However, since there are no guarantees she will be alive to see him, Miss Queenie determines, with the help of a new volunteer nun, that she will write a second letter to Harold, telling him all he needs to know about her life during the time they worked together, why she left, and why she lives alone in a seaside cottage and has never married.

Basically, I found the story very sad and depressing. Queenie is an interesting character, but I just found I had a hard time getting into the story and interested in her past. The story is quirky and full of interesting little stories and quirky characters. But, there were just too many questions left unanswered. Based on the reaction of the one person who read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, it was important to have read that story first to understand why Harold was coming to see Queenie, why he was walking all the way, and what his feelings and thoughts were about her. Apparently, understanding Harold gives us more insight into Queenie and her experiences.

I strongly suggest this book NOT be read as a stand alone, but only after having read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.


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