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A review by alongapath
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
4.0
My hopes were high for this book since The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a 5 star read for me. But sadly Queenie's Lovesong didn't swing to those same heights. For the most part, this book felt slow and dull in comparison. But, it is still a gripping read (3.5 stars) and it partners well with Harold's account.
Queenie is in a hospice and dying. She sends her old co-worker, Harold Fry, a note about her illness as she attempts to get her affairs in order. Soon thereafter, she learns that Harold wants to see her and is walking across England to do so. He asks that she wait for his arrival.
Throughout Harold's pilgrimage, Queenie makes a pilgrimage of her own by hand-writing a letter to him which Balanced with stories of ongoing hospice events, reflections on her solitary life and descriptions of her sea garden, the novel ebbs and flows as Harold draws ever nearer and Queenie's health teeters on the edge.
The final chapter blew my mind. Not one to become emotionally involved in my reading, I was surprised to find myself openly crying at the final twist of fate for Harold and Queenie. The ending is unbelievable and almost cruel but ever so fitting with the two parallel lives revealed in these two books. The ending made me bump the stars up. It forces you to reflect on mortality and to consider setting things right in your life long before the end is in sight.
Queenie is in a hospice and dying. She sends her old co-worker, Harold Fry, a note about her illness as she attempts to get her affairs in order. Soon thereafter, she learns that Harold wants to see her and is walking across England to do so. He asks that she wait for his arrival.
Throughout Harold's pilgrimage, Queenie makes a pilgrimage of her own by hand-writing a letter to him which
Spoiler
not only confirms her undying love for him but also admits her knowledge of, and perhaps involvement in, Harold's sons death.The final chapter blew my mind. Not one to become emotionally involved in my reading, I was surprised to find myself openly crying at the final twist of fate for Harold and Queenie. The ending is unbelievable and almost cruel but ever so fitting with the two parallel lives revealed in these two books. The ending made me bump the stars up. It forces you to reflect on mortality and to consider setting things right in your life long before the end is in sight.