The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce: book review

The UnlikelyPilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012) is the story of a retired man from Kingsbridge on the southern coast of England. He receives a letter in a Turkish Delight coloured pink envelope. It is from Queenie Hennessy, dying of cancer in a hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Scotland – almost as far north as you can get.

Harold and Queenie used to work together in the local brewery. She was one of the first women to work there, employed in the finance department.

Harold pens a sympathy letter to Queenie and walks down the street to post it. But he doesn’t stop. He walks to the next post box, and just keeps on walking, with no preparation, no gear, and no mobile phone, and without saying goodbye to his wife, Maureen. He has this idea that he will walk to Queenie’s hospice. He sends postcards to Queenie to tell her to wait – don’t die yet – he’s coming.

Harold telephones Maureen about every second day. How does she cope with his news, his desire to see Queenie? Will he come back to her? Should she get in the car and bring him back home? And what of their son David?

He hasn’t seen Queenie in 20 years, since the time she left work abruptly. After 87 days and 627 miles (1,009 kilometres), he arrives in Berwick.

This is about a journey, a purpose in life, but it is also about the impact of his spontaneous decision on his wife and their 45-year marriage, the people he meets along the way (their influence on him and his influence on them), the anticipation and the outcome of the eventual reunion.

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Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

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