This is Queenie's story from The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry. If you haven't read Harold Fry then you really must - couldn't recommend it more highly. This one is a sweet read from Queenie's perspective as she waits for Harold to reach her. Those that have read Harold could relive some of the wonder of Harold but it isn't another Harold. Always good to relive the characters though. Sweet and satisfying.

“If only memory were a library with everything stored where it should be. If only you could walk to the desk and say to the assistant, I’d like to return the painful memories about … and take out some happier ones, please”

The Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessy is the third novel by actress, radio playwright and author, Rachel Joyce, and is a companion volume to her first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Queenie Hennessy is dying. When she hears that Harold Fry is walking from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed to save her, that all she has to do is wait, she is transported back twenty years to Kingsbridge, to the brewery, to her relationship with Harold Fry. Her guilt about the events of that time has haunted her ever since, but a volunteer nun at St Bernadine’s Hospice convinces her to write to Harold Fry, to confess the truth, finally, before she dies.

As Queenie fills her notebook, the events that led to her departure from Kingsbridge are revealed: some things, readers of Harold Fry will have suspected; others, they will have wondered about; and some will come as a complete surprise. Interspersed with her confessions are descriptions of Queenie’s Sea Garden and bits of everyday life in a hospice, some of which are hilarious (nutritional protein shakes that taste like wet cardboard, diversional therapy ideas, knitted syringe-driver covers), others, like the inevitable deaths, sad.

Joyce gives the reader a cast of quirky characters: naïve nuns (and some very wise ones); a cranky Scot; a foul-mouthed woman who loves hats and entering competitions; a one-armed man constantly in receipt of parcels and an inexperienced counselor. She gives Queenie many words of wisdom: “We write ourselves certain parts and then keep playing them as if we have no choice”; “I found out what was right only by getting it wrong”; “Sometimes people judge their happiness by the price they have to pay for it. The more they’ve spent, the happier they think they will be” and “…sometimes you cannot clear the past completely. You must live alongside your sorrow” are a few examples.

Joyce has, of course, ensured that the events of this novel dovetail perfectly with Harold Fry, and while Queenie Hennessy can be read independently of the earlier book, readers will find that the experience is much enhanced by reading Harold Fry first. Once again, the illustrations by Andrew Davidson are truly charming. Fans of Harold Fry will not be disappointed: if anything, Queenie Hennessy surpasses that book with its characters and also some lovely descriptive prose: “I have noticed the rain clouds drawing over the earth like a slate tablecloth and the wind beating at the black sea and tossing the gulls up and down like twists of white paper” and “The small leaves on the tree outside my window have stretched into green hands”. A delightful read.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce is a remarkable book. Despite not having read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I was able to enjoy this book immensely. Miss Queenie is a fantastic character. The end is near and she decides she needs to tell the truth to the one man she loved. The story follows her time in the hospice. There she is convinced to write a letter to Harold Fry in order to help her wait for his arrival. In the letter, she can finally tell him the truth. The truth about her feelings, what she did for him and why she had to leave.

The glimpses of the hospice allows the reader to see the other patients and fall in love with them. At first, there is a feeling of resigned acceptance that they are there to die. But when they hear that Harold Fry is coming to see Queenie, it reinvigorates them and gives them something to wait for. The patients support Queenie and encourage her to keep waiting for him. Her story is so beautiful and heart-rending. Through the letter, she reveals her past. She is in love with a married man. Her unrequited love will never known because she is content in loving him silently. Her selflessness is incredible. She knows that he will never love her. He will never be hers but she is content in loving him in silence.

Rachel Joyce has done a fantastic job writing this story. You truly feel a torrent of emotions for all the characters: pain, sorrow, joy, and excitement. You feel everything with them and for them. I absolutely loved the images included throughout the story. They were brilliant! It is a heart-breaking and beautiful story that pulls you into its pages. You simply have to continue reading because you just can’t wait a moment longer to find out what the next page holds. It’s a wonderful story.