In the letter, Queenie explained she had cancer and was going to die. The letter stated that she has no other family member or relatives to inform about it. She sent it to Harold as a rememberence of their good friendship once upon a time.
Harold felt deeply touched with it as they were once working at the same place and he did not know the reasons of her sudden termination. He wrote a reply letter and with intention of going to post the letter to Queenie.
From a simple intention of posting a letter from one letter box to another, he suddenly got an idea to walk and gave his letter personally to Queenie. He then informed the caretaker to give his message and he wanted her to stay alive until he reached her. His walking became an amazing self-discovery journey from Kingsbridge to St. Bernadine's Hospice, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Through out the journey, Harold met a lot of people who were willing to help a stranger like him without wanting anything in returned, humble him. To Harold, all of these people were different but none struck as strange.
In the moment of solitary, Harold reminisced all things that went wrong in his life - his runaway mother, his troubled father who chased him out of his house when he reached 16, the first time he met his wife, Maureen and how they fell apart and became strangers living in the same house. He remember his son, David, whom he loved so much but unable to express his love to him and they then became estranged too.
He also remember how he met Queenie and they became closed friend. How out of sudden, Queenie disappeared. He felt guilty for not seeking her and asked her what actually happened that night.
It is not only an emotional journey for Harold but it is an emotional journey for Maureen too. How she took for granted and blamed Harold fir everything that had happened in her life. She blamed Harold for his cold treatment to their son, David. And from a good David turn out to be a bad one. How she ignored David's lack of interest in education. She pretended not knowing when David stole her money to feed his addiction. She just blamed everything to Harold. That put a deep strain into their marriage. They became strangers.
Eighty-seven days after setting out to post a letter, Harold Fry arrived at the gate of St. Bernadine's Hospice. Including mistakes and diversions, his journey had amounted to 627 miles. Together with his wife who had waited him at the end of the journey, they visited Queenie at the Hospice.
It is a good story. One need to read to find the answers to what actually happened to David and Queenie.
8/10
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