The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry / Rachel Joyce 320 pp.

Look at this attractive cover image, and note the cheerfully unwieldy title.  Add a map of England tracing Harold's pilgrimage covered with lighthearted graphics and you know you're going to be reading a sweet, fun little tale, right?

So much for books and covers and all that.  What a downer!  Harold and his wife live quietly in southern England.  That is, they hardly speak to one another.  One day, Harold receives a letter from a former co-worker, who is dying in the far north of England.  Harold owes a debt to this woman, Queenie, although the reader won't learn why for a long while.  He spontaneously decides that the best way to make good on his obligations is to walk the 600 miles to see her. The novel is beautifully written and very engaging.  I can't criticize anything about it except its deeply melancholic tone.