the love song of miss queenie hennessy review

The ending, with some unexpected twists is both sad and very beautiful. I was fascinated by Queenie’s character, and her love “from the sidelines”.īoth books read together make a wonderful diptychon life and death, love and friendship, memories and the grace of the present moment. The way forward is not forward, but off to one side, in a place you have not noticed before. You try to force something in the familiar direction and discover that what it needs is to move in a different dimension. Sometimes, Harold, the way forward takes you by surprise. I thought of the hotel door that wouldn’t pull or push but only slid from right to left. I had the pleasure to find again the same wonderful descriptions of the landscapeindeed in this second book, for instance the sea garden Queenie set up years before to atone. You can really feel this contemplative mood in both books, in dealing with both people and nature. Not surprisingly, the author mentions the Bernardine Cistercians community in Gloucestershire and their contemplative atmosphere which helped her write her book. I have to say, it’s refreshing to find such a positive view of religious members in a book. There are really great insights and funny descriptions on the other residents, each quite a character in his or her own way! And by the way, the descriptions of the Sisters, staff of the hospice, are remarkable. I knew then that you would always see the positive side because you liked people, and you wanted the best for them. I thought this was a great parallel between both books: how constant movement through walking or total immobility can both invite you to an inner journey and to pay more attention as well to your present surroundings and people evolving around you. Just as Harold goes deeper into his memoryas he walks, so does Queenie on her hospice bed: as her world narrows, she goes deeper and reminisces.

Martin Buber quoted at the beginning of the book

She has felt bad about it ever since, and plans to tell him when he arrives after his long walk through England.Īll journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. Encouraged by a Sister running the hospice, she writes her journal, trying to confesssomething she did twenty years before and had not been able to tell Harold. She can no longer talk, and communicates by writing. Queenie is suffering from cancer and is a hospiceresident. It is just as beautiful as the first book. So I jumped on the opportunity (thanks Random House and Netgalley!) to read The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, which is basically the same story, but now told from the perspective of the woman at the other end of the road. Last year, I read and loved a lot The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges

The love song of miss queenie hennessy review