The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce Book Review

Have you ever felt like you had to keep a secret for so long that it was just easier to carry the burden than to tell someone? Rachel Joyce’s latest book, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, offers a heart-wrenching look at how secrets can shape our lives even after we have passed on. Join me as I review this comfortingly sad and poignant read about living and dying with dignity.

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

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.

About The Author

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, and the New York Times bestseller Miss Benson’s Beetle, as well as a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her books have sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and been translated into thirty-six languages. Two are currently in development for film.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards ‘New Writer of the Year’ in December 2012 and shortlisted for the ‘UK Author of the Year’ 2014.

Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She lives with her family near Stroud.

My Review

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy follows the story of Harold Fry, (from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry) a retiree who sets out on a seemingly impossible journey across England when he learns his old friend Queenie is dying in hospice care. As he walks, Harold reflects on their past friendship and all the secrets they held close. Meanwhile, Queenie begins to write letters confessing her life’s truths – because she believes if Harold is walking for her then the least she can do is be honest with him.

We learn so much about Queenie from her letter, about her childhood, university days where she studied classics, her losses, her time with Harold and her beloved beachhouse and stunning sea garden, complete with representations of the important people in her life.

The novel explores how secrets can haunt us all our lives while also questioning what it takes to make peace with our pasts and move forward. It’s an emotional exploration of life’s regrets and joys that will leave readers feeling both heartbroken and uplifted at once.

Rachel Joyce does an incredible job of weaving together Harold’s journey with Queenie’s narrative in a way that feels seamless yet unexpected. This should be a heavy, sad story of a dying woman but somehow it is far from that. She paints vivid pictures both through her words and through her characters – making it easy for readers to imagine themselves in their shoes or relate to one or more of them from their own lives.

There are some brilliant characters at the hospice, from the occasionally potty-mouthed Finty, the Pearly King, the miserable Mr Henderson and poor Barbara. Finty was my favourite, especially when she learns how to use Twitter and takes to share her favourite new hashtags. Some will make you laugh, and some will make you cry but all will entertain you. Queenie is brilliantly written, and her mutilated appearance is well described, so much so that it was easy to picture her clearly in my head.

Her writing style is light yet profound, making The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy a surprisingly enjoyable read that will resonate long after you set down your book. At some point the story becomes less about Harold Fry and more about Queenie and the other residents of the hospice. From the loving service of the nuns, particularly Sister Mary Inconnu who types up Queenie’s notes through to the realities of living in a hospice, especially when Barbara wishes for ‘one more christmas’. The residents enthusiasm grows with time until Finty declares “it’s a unanimous vote. From now on, no one dies. We are all waiting for Harold Fry.” I loved that this unified all of them to root for Harold and want to share in his victory and that of Queenie to manage to stay alive long enough to see him one last time.

I would recommend reading this after The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which is technically the first in the series of three books but it could be easily read as a stand-alone. These ordinary people mean so much to those around them that they are not ordinary at all.

All in all, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy is an incredibly well-written story about facing one’s darkest moments with courage and grace – no matter how hard it may seem. Rachel Joyce has crafted an emotionally charged tale that will stay with readers long after they finish reading it. If you are looking for an enthralling page-turner filled with heartbreaking truths and comforting wisdom – this book is definitely worth checking out!

My previous reviews of Rachel Joyce’s work

The unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Rated