When recently retired Harold receives an unexpected note
from Queenie Hennessy, a woman he worked with and hasn’t seen in 20 years, he
learns she is dying of cancer.
Scribbling off a couple lines of sympathy, he sets off to post it near
his house. And he just keeps walking
past one postbox after another, unable somehow to mail it. Near the edge of town, he runs into a young
woman who is a clerk in a service station.
Hearing his story, she tells him that her aunt was dying of cancer but she
saved her through her faith that the aunt would survive. Suddenly, Harold seizes on the idea of
delivering the note in person. He will walk the 500+ miles from his home in the south of England to near the
Scottish border where his co-worker is in hospice care, believing that she
will hold on to life until he arrives.
This is the story of his journey, equipped with only a waterproof jacket,
his wallet, and wearing yachting shoes.
Walking gives him plenty of time to reflect back on his life and his
damaged relationships with his wife and son.
Along the way, he meets strangers, learns to live off the land, becomes
a minor celebrity, and comes to terms with the mistakes he has made in his 65
years. At times hilarious, at times sad,
it is truly a remarkable journey and a small gem of a book. 320 pp.
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