I just finished this lovely book, and I'm never going to forget it. To those who say nobody wants to read about "old people", I'd say, read this book. The fact is, as long as you're alive, you should be open to growth and change, right? But how many of us stop growing after middle age? We find a formula that works and we stick with it, missing opportunities to experience joyous awakening. Maybe we start saying things like, "I'm too old to do X any more." And we shut down, close off. We fail to notice the continuing wonder and miracle of life.

In this story, a couple in their 60s have made their peace, of sorts, following a horrific event in middle age. They live together, married in name only, settling for having another person in proximity (to take out the trash. To do the laundry. She snaps at him, he looks away.) The author conveys emotion so skillfully, not overwriting by one syllable.

Then, something happens, and the husband, Harold, begins a journey both mental and actual - he sets off on a walk from the south of Great Britain to a point 500 miles north. I won't tell you if he makes it or what happens, but I will say that the story was so good, I put it in a class with Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. This author, Rachel Joyce, has achieved this miracle: she describes the sweetness and difficulty of life in such a way that you can't separate the two, and are a better person for having realized this fact.

Many thanks to Ms. Joyce for this winner.