Short Synopsis
In this gorgeous, moving memoir, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gail Caldwell reflects on her own coming-of-age in midlife, as she learns to open herself to the power and healing of sharing her life with a best friend.

Full Synopsis
In Let's Take the Long Way Home, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gail Caldwell offers a powerful and moving memoir about her coming-of-age in mid-life and her extraordinary friendship with Caroline Knapp, the author of Drinking: A Love Story.

In her younger years, Caldwell defined herself by rebellion and independence, a passion for books, and an aversion to intimacy and a distrust of others. Then, while living in Cambridge in her early forties, Caldwell adopted a rambunctious puppy named Clementine. On one of their bucolic walks, she met Caroline and her dog, Lucille, and both women's lives changed forever.

Though they are more different than alike, these two fiercely private, independent women quickly relax into a friendship more profound than either of them expected, a friendship that will thrive on their shared secrets, including parallel struggles with alcoholism and loneliness. They grow increasingly inseparable until, in 2003, Caroline is diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.

In her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion and grief in this wise and affecting account about losing her best friend. Let's Take the Long Way Home is also a celebration of life and all the little moments worth cherishing—and affirms why Gail Caldwell is rightly praised as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.

"An exquisite testament to the bittersweet depths of love and loss." ---Patricia B. McConnell, author of For the Love of a Dog

"Caldwell's greatest achievement is...to describe both the very best that women can be together and the precious things they can, if they wish, give back to one another: power, humor, love and self-respect." ---The New York Times

"[Caldwell's] memoir, a tribute to the enduring power of friendship, is a lovely gift to readers." ---The Washington Post

"What holds the reader...is the elegance and precision of Caldwell's prose, her stiletto-like way with words." ---Los Angeles Times

"[Caldwell] writes of this desolating time with tremendously moving grace." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"If grief can ever be graceful, then Caldwell gracefully weaves a thread of stories that describe and ponder friendship and loss." ---USA Today

"Poignant and powerful." ---Kirkus

Salon.com Authors' Choice

Oprah Bestseller

Washington Post Bestseller

O Magazine Bestseller

Time Top 10 Nonfiction Book

Bookpage Top 40

Publishers Weekly Bestseller

Amazon Bestseller

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

New York Times Bestseller

Publishers Weekly Review