Book Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

Do you guys remember that part in Forrest Gump when Forrest, “for no particular reason”, just starts running? And then he meets a bunch of people and has a bunch of revelations about his life? “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”, by Rachel Joyce, is kind of like that, except instead of Forrest Gump, you have a British retiree, Harold Fry, who, on a whim, decides to walk from one end of England to the other, with nothing but his wallet and the clothes on his back, because he believes his walk will save a friend who’s dying of cancer.

This book couldn’t be further from my wheelhouse (it’s more like something my mom would read), but I picked it up because 1) I like road trip books/movies, and 2) this is a British road trip, which of course appeals to the Anglophile in me. In fact, this is a very British book, period. From the characters to the settings, it’s so British you can almost taste the Earl Grey and digestive biscuits from the pages. The story gets a little sentimental at times, but it’s also heartbreaking and beautifully written in simple language, and a fairly quick read, so I really enjoyed it.

As for the outfit, Harold is walking in his everyday clothes and his yachting shoes, which I choose to interpret in a casual outfit + loafers. Basically the worst outfit you can wear if you’re walking the length of a country. I added the necklace because Harold buys a rose quartz pendant as a present for his friend, and this is the best I could do to imitate that. An actual rose quartz pendant would be nice though.

Shirt: Gap (thrifted), Jeans: Calvin Klein, Loafers: 5th Avenue, Necklace: my mom’s

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