The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

　　一個人活著可以背負多少苦痛
　　一段遙遠的里程能夠紀錄怎樣的信念
　　一場與生命正面對話，重拾人生第二次機會與摯愛的旅程！

　　意外的一封信，讓哈洛決定開始一次荒謬的旅程，
　　從妻兒的不諒解，到陌生人的協助，讓他堅信──
　　只要繼續走下去，自然就會走到。
　　或許有人會因此而活，有人會因此得到救贖。
　　唯有坦然面對自己的過去，才能重啟一段新的人生。

　　這是一次意料之外的旅程，因為一封在某個星期二早晨寄達的信件而出發……

　　是昆妮，這位二十年沒見的老同事寄信來向哈洛道別，說她患了癌症住在安寧療養院。信的內容讓哈洛既震驚又難過，他開始從記憶中搜尋昆妮的樣子，是啊！二十年了，他已經有這麼長時間沒想到她了，當年，那個唯一把自己當作是朋友、後來不告而別的老同事……

　　哈洛懷著一份愧疚寫了封回信，在寄信途中，他心裡想著除了寄信，他應該可以為昆妮做點什麼事？因緣際會下，一個女孩給了他一個希望與信念：他可以走路去探望昆妮，而且，只要他繼續走，他的老朋友昆妮就會繼續活下去！

　　這單純的信念讓哈洛開啟了一段看似荒謬卻不平凡的旅程。他，一個六十幾歲的老人，沒帶手機、沒有地圖、沒有計畫，決定從英國最西南的康瓦耳一直走到最東北的蘇格蘭，超過五百公里的路程。途中遇到形形色色的人，有人為他歡呼打氣，也有人對他的行徑嗤之以鼻。

　　一路上，哈洛開始回想自己的一生，終於有了勇氣去釋放二十年來深埋內心不願去面對的過去。他想到生命中已錯過的太多東西：他一輩子都低下頭避免跟人衝突，然而，他自己的兒子卻是打定了主意將目光直直盯視他，跟他爭個水落石出；和妻子莫琳當年相識相戀時的激情和浪漫，曾幾何時，已經疏離形同陌路……

　　哈洛承受著生命中最深沉的悲傷之際，當一切都已太遲時，他勇敢地敞開自己傷痕累累的心，讓世界走進來。這趟旅程改變了路上所遇到的每個人，也讓哈洛有機會回過頭重新面對自己的人生和摯愛的人。

　　Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.
 
　　Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.
 
　　Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him — allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.
 
　　And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.
 
　　A novel of unsentimental charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise—and utterly irresistible — storyteller.

　　★本書中譯版《一個人的朝聖》由出版。

作者簡介

蕾秋．喬伊斯 (Rachel Joyce)

　　資深劇作家，寫了二十年的廣播劇本，包括二十齣以上的BBC Radio 4 原創廣播劇。同時活躍於劇場界，獲得無數劇本獎，轉而創作小說。

　　《一個人的朝聖》是她的首部小說，未出版已售出二十餘國外語版權，一上市即廣受各界媒體矚目，也是讀書俱樂部、圖書館熱門推薦書單，英國年度最佳新人小說。此書描寫一位平凡男人在面對人生已殘破、連希望也遺棄他之際，如何透過一段不平凡的徒步旅程，重獲人生的第二次機會與摯愛的感人故事

　　Rachel Joyce is an award-winning writer of more than 20 plays for BBC Radio 4. She started writing after a 20-year acting career in which she performed leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company and won multiple awards. Rachel Joyce lives in Gloucestershire on a farm with her family and is at work on her second novel.