And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

I discovered this novella while browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, caramel brulee latte in hand. I'd meant to just go get some coffee and sit and read the other two books resting in my purse ([b:Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater 12315579 Talking with My Mouth Full My Life as a Professional Eater Gail Simmons https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1324228948s/12315579.jpg 17293403] and [b:Rules of Civility 10054335 Rules of Civility Amor Towles https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1311705045s/10054335.jpg 14950407]), but that never really happens with me and bookstores. As I sipped, this little hardcover caught my eye. Someone had started to read it before me, and the cover flap marked a passage that read, “He suddenly sounds so afraid. His body is heavy, his voice is weak, and his skin is a sail about to be abandoned by the wind.” I had to flip back to the beginning.I read a page or two. I sat down on the floor in front of the new fiction, my back propped up against the shelf. I read the first third of the novella. My eyes welled up a few times. I knew that I could finish it in one sitting, right here in the aisle of Barnes & Noble, but that if I did, I would end up a sobbing mess on the carpet next to the help desk. So I took it home. Finished it. Silent tears streamed down my cheeks.It was such a beautiful read.