Recommend only reading this book IF you need to be sad. It is a story of unrequited love by a very sad woman for an even sadder man. It's a pretty realistic story in many ways: what we might think about as we are dying, what we feel compelled to do because we are dying, regrets we need to reconcile, etc. as well as the ugly truth of what hurtful behaviors certain mental illnesses might trigger, how we never actually know what's going on in someone else's life and should never assume, and the difference in reality between what you think is happening versus what it actually looks like to the rest of the world.

I was already sad today, so this was the perfect book for my mood. There's one more in the series. Let's see if that one is any more uplifting, given how underwhelming the first one was and how sad this one was.

It's a companion book rather than a sequel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and is about Queenie and the reason Harold starts walking to her. It's a delightful read and adds to the original story that you so do need to read first. Queenie is in a hospice, and the characters around her add depth to the story. They do die off over time, but this adds to the story and the reality of hospice life. Delightful and thought-provoking, but also beautifully written and unexpectedly uplifting. A joyous, moving book. The ending left me speechless. Wonderful stuff.

If you look at the content warnings I have listed then you may wonder how on earth this book could also have a descriptor of “hopeful” and yet somehow the extreme nature of the subject matter is dealt with in such a way that the main thread all the way through is hope. This is the companion book to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry told over the same period of time through a different character. It is full of unexpected turns which make it a brilliant story without making it feel unbelievable. It is an emotional read with some passages that bring you to your knees but the majority being somehow comforting. I was very sad to finish this book in part because of the happenings but also because I now miss reading it. This story will stay with me for a long time.