The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy
ABOUT
THE BOOK
An exquisite, funny and heartrending parallel story from the author of the worldwide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?
A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, ‘Even though you’ve done your travelling, you’re starting a new journey too.’
Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was the beginning.
Told in simple, emotionally-honest prose, with a mischievous bite, this is a novel about the journey we all must take to learn who we are; it is about loving and letting go. And most of all it is about finding joy in unexpected places and at times we least expect.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
This tale of Queenie’s life and last days in a hospice, in theory should make for depressing reading, but instead is a wonderful story about living and dying with dignity, about friendship and love, and regrets and acceptance. With its great cast of supporting characters, Rachel Joyce’s book, filled with humour and human warmth, leaves you thinking of Queenie and her friends long after the final page.