It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.

Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.

This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.

'Short but very special. ... funny, touching and quite beautiful.' Matt Cain 'A powerful finale to her classic trilogy of heartbreak and healing.' Clare Chambers 'An unforgettable story. It's beautiful all through, but the closing chapters are just astonishing, transcendent and hope-filled and life-affirming.' Donal Ryan 'Just brilliant' Patrick Gale 'Profoundly moving and deeply human, this story of self-discovery and forgiveness is essential reading. I loved every word.' Bonnie Garmus 'Astonishingly powerful... Truly stunning' Ruth Jones ...................................................................................................................................... Ten years ago, Harold Fry set off on his epic journey on foot to save a friend. But the story doesn't end there. Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make. Maureen Fry has settled into the quiet life she now shares with her husband Harold after his iconic walk across England. Now, ten years later, an unexpected message from the North disturbs her equilibrium again, and this time it is Maureen's turn to make her own journey. But Maureen is not like Harold. She struggles to bond with strangers, and the landscape she crosses has changed radically. She has little sense of what she'll find at the end of the road. All she knows is that she must get there. Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is a deeply felt, lyrical and powerful novel, full of warmth and kindness, about love, loss, and how we come to terms with the past in order to understand ourselves and our lives a little better. Short, exquisite, while it stands in its own right, it is also the moving finale to a trilogy that began with the phenomenal bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and continued with The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. This is a slender book but it has all the power and weight of a classic.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY "THE WASHINGTON POST"
" Rachel] Joyce's beguiling debut is a] modest-seeming story of 'ordinary' English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds."--"People" (four stars)
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn't heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of 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.
Praise for "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
"
" A] gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation."--"O: The Oprah Magazine"
"A cause for celebration . . . Joyce] has a lovely sense of the possibilities of redemption. In this bravely unpretentious and unsentimental take, she's cleared space where miracles are still possible."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
""The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" is not just a book about lost love. It is about all the wonderful everyday things Harold discovers through the mere process of putting one foot in front of the other."--Janet Maslin, "The New York Times
"
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.

*Companion edition to the major film written by Rachel Joyce, award-winning author of the internationally bestselling book, directed by Hettie Macdonald (Normal People) and starring Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton *Contains exclusive new behind-the-scenes insights and colour photographs Harold is an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day...and just keeps walking. This edition includes stills from the film; also exclusive material about adapting novel to book by Rachel Joyce; Rachel Joyce in conversation with the producers; and insights from the producer about the challenges of making the movie. 'The odyssey of a simple man, original, subtle and touching.' Claire Tomalin 'From the moment I met Harold Fry, I didn't want to leave him. Impossible to put down.' Erica Wagner, The Times

'Impossible to put down' TIMES 'Life-affirming delight. A comic pleasure' WOMAN AND HOME 'Profoundly moving' RICHARD MADELEY OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD. SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOVIE STARRING JIM BROADBENT AND PENELOPE WILTON ____________________ When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life. Harold Fry is the most ordinary of men. He just might be a hero for us all. ____________________ 'A gorgeously hopeful book' OPRAH MAGAZINE 'A funny book, a wise book, a charming book . . . Harold Fry is just wonderful ... I love this book' ERICA WAGNER, THE TIMES 'The odyssey of a simple man, original, subtle and touching' CLAIRE TOMALIN 'One of the sweetest, most delicately-written stories I've read in a long time. One man's walk along the length of England to save the life of a dying woman . . . Philosophical, intriguing, and profoundly moving' RICHARD MADELEY 'Full of heart, laced through with wry wit. I loved Harold and Maureen and their separate journeys . . . A celebration of being alive, being human. Beautiful!' NIAMH CUSACK 'Tender and funny, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry shows that even our frailties can be uplifting and redemptive' EDWARD STOURTON ____________________ RACHEL JOYCE'S NEW NOVEL, MAUREEN, THE FINAL NOVEL IN THE 'HAROLD FRY TRILOGY', IS PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2022. ____________________

From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: ' A beautiful novel, a tonic for the soul and a complete joy to read.' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. 1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need. Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind ... 'Hits all the right notes...a love story that's as much about the silences between words as what is said - the spaces between people that can be filled with mystery, confusion and misunderstanding as well as hope." Observer RACHEL JOYCE'S NEW NOVEL, MISS BENSON'S BEETLE, IS OUT NOW.

From the author of the 2 million+ copy, worldwide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, - soon to be a major movie starring Jim Broadbent - an exquisite, funny and heartrending parallel story. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'A beautiful story which will grip you, make you laugh and cry, uplift your spirit and leave you feeling profoundly grateful' DAILY MAIL 'Will leave you wide-eyed and wanting to read it all again . . . wondrous' THE TIMES ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ RACHEL JOYCE'S NEW NOVEL MAUREEN FRY AND THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH - THE FINAL PART OF THE HAROLD FRY TRILOGY - IS PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2022

This novella is short, exquisite and while it stands in its own right, it is also the moving finale to a trilogy that began with the phenomenal bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and continued with The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

Ten years ago, Harold Fry set off on his epic journey on foot to save a friend. But the story doesn't end there. Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make.

Maureen Fry has settled into the quiet life she now shares with her husband Harold after his iconic walk across England. Now, ten years later, an unexpected message from the North disturbs her equilibrium again, and this time it is Maureen's turn to make her own journey.

But Maureen is not like Harold. She struggles to bond with strangers, and the landscape she crosses has changed radically. She has little sense of what she'll find at the end of the road. All she knows is that she must get there.

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is a deeply felt, lyrical and powerful novel, full of warmth and kindness, about love, loss, and how we come to terms with the past in order to understand ourselves and our lives a little better.

'It is her clever did-I-read-that-right twist at the end that really got to me and had me scrabbling through the chapters, open-mouthed.' Evening Standard Summer, 1972: In the claustrophobic heat, eleven-year-old Byron and his friend begin 'Operation Perfect', a hapless mission to rescue Byron's mother from impending crisis. Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local cafe, a solitary figure struggling with OCD. His job is a relief from the rituals that govern his nights. Little would seem to connect them except that two seconds can change everything. And if your world can be shattered in an instant, can time also put it right?

As read on Radio 4, seven linked stories set in the Christmas holidays - all as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be: A Faraway Smell of Lemon: The School Term has ended. It is almost Christmas but Binny, out last-minute shopping couldn't feel less like wishing glad tidings to all men. Ducking out of the rain she finds herself in the sort of shop she would never normally visit. The Marriage Manual: Christmas Eve. Two parents endeavour to construct their son's Christmas present from a DIY kit and in the process find themselves deconstructing their marriage. Christmas at the Airport: A glitch in the system, travellers stranded and all sorts of lives colliding in the face of a sudden birth... The Boxing Day Ball: Maureen has never been out with the local girls before. Who knew that a disco in the Village Hall could be life-changing? A Snow Garden: Two little boys, dumped with their divorced father for his share of the Christmas holidays and none of them with a clue how to enjoy it. I'll Be Home for Christmas The most famous boy in the world comes home hoping to escape the madness with a normal family Christmas. Trees: As if Christmas wasn't wearing enough, now his elderly parent is asking for a hole in the ground ... Father and son break old habits and plant a tree to mark the start of the new year.

A story about the triumph of a quiet hero. And how music can bring us back to life.

1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need.

Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann.

Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind...

Amanda Hale and Tom Burke star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Charlotte Bronte's most beloved novel, adapted by Rachel Joyce. Orphan Jane learns at an early age that self-control is the surest means of retaining self-respect in adversity. It is a lesson that serves her well in the years ahead as she endures the misery of life with her cruel, uncaring aunt, followed by the harsh regime at Lowood Institution, a charity school for poor children. After taking the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, she meets the master of the house, the brooding, enigmatic Edward Rochester, and finds herself falling in love with him. It seems as if happiness may finally be within her grasp - but a series of strange events leads her to believe that Rochester is concealing a dark secret. When the truth is revealed, the heartbroken Jane will need all her inner strength and resilience to face up to it... Dramatised for radio by bestselling novelist Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry), this iconic love story stars Amanda Hale as Jane and Tom Burke as Rochester. Suffused with romance, passion, mystery and danger, it is a spellbinding tale that is as real and relevant today as when it was first published in 1847. Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.