Press

What the critics say

At times almost unbearably moving.
- Sunday Times

A brilliant and charming novel: full of comic panache yet acute and poignant.
- Spectator

one of the most moving, uplifting, inspiring novels I've ever read
- Richard Madeley

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a funny book, a wise book, a charming book – but never cloying. It’s a book with a savage twist, and yet never seems manipulative. Perhaps because Harold himself is just wonderful...This book may follow a pattern set by another radio dramatist-turned-novelist, David Nicholls, whose One Day has now sold more than a million copies and been made into a successful film simply because one reader said to another ‘I love this book’ over and over again. So I’m telling you now: I love this book.
- The Times

Wonderful
- Guardian

A terrific book, comic and sad and very honest. Harold is a wonderfully-drawn character... his story is at the same time emotionally gruelling and yet ultimately uplifting.
- Joanne Harris

a gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation
- Oprah Magazine

Life-affirming delight. A comic pleasure.
- Woman and Home

A tender, funny debut about second chances and regained love as a man takes to the road on an unusual quest.
- Marie Claire

The odyssey of a simple man, original, subtle and touching.
- Claire Tomalin

Compelling and truly wonderful. It made me laugh out loud at times and brought tears to my eyes. There are sentences that are just brilliant and well observed.
- David Headley, Goldsboro Bookshop

I was completely blown away. I thought I was about to read a comic novel but what can I say - it was indeed funny, but tender, ironic and deeply moving, a really wonderful book.
- Pat Abrehard, Harbour Bookshop, Kingsbridge, Devon

Harold Fry is infuriating, hilarious and completely out of his depth, but I held my breath at his every blister and cramp and, felt, as if by turning the pages, I might help his impossible quest succeed. Marvellous!
- Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

From the moment I met Harold Fry, I didn't want to leave him. Impossible to put down.
- The Times

Tender and funny, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry shows that even our frailties can be uplifting and redemptive.
- Edward Stourton

A delightfully original and engaging debut.
- Rebecca Frayn

I loved this book. I loved its purity, its brutality and unerring honesty. I don't think I have read such richly composed metaphors before. They are like shooting stars glittering across each page. I can't believe this is her first novel- I wait with bated breath for her next.
- Natascha McElhone

Harold's unlikely pilgrimage takes him the length of the country - and into the deepest parts of himself. This beautifully written tale is by turns funny, touching, farcical and heroic. A very unusual and uplifting debut.
- Isabel Wolff

This book is like a naive painting: simple and profound. It is a moving story , full of heart, laced through with wry wit. I loved Harold and Maureen and their separate journeys. It felt like a celebration of being alive, being human. Beautiful!
- Niamh Cusack

Accomplished BBC playwright Joyce’s debut novel is a gentle and genteel charmer, brimming with British quirkiness yet quietly haunting in its poignant and wise examination of love and devotion. Sure to become a bookclub favorite.
- Booklist

Joyce’s beguiling debut is another modest-seeming story of ‘ordinary’ English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds.
- People Magazine 4* Review

Tender and profound, fresh and funny, a debut that provokes thoughts of reconciliation
- Marie Claire, Italy

[Joyce] has created, with admirable ease, the kind of character whom readers will struggle to forget, who is genuine from the very beginning... emotionally gripping... a 21st-century morality tale that ultimately, and perhaps surprisingly, celebrates the kindness of strangers
- The Independent

Impressive... Tender and thought-provoking
- Choice Magazine

A moving, redemptive story
- The Lady

[Harold's] tragicomic journey has the affecting simplicity of a modern-day parable
- Sunday Telegraph

I found myself taking days over it just because I wanted to savour every few pages. An enchanting, gentle book.
- Daily Express