The Long Way Home

A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked if me I’d read any of Louise Penny’s books. I had not, but had long been meaning to (having been an ardent fan of Agatha Christie and mysteries in general in my teens). I randomly picked up a Louise Penny book from the library to take with me on my country retreat, after I finished the book I was then reading. Although the Penny books are a series of Inspector Gamache mysteries, I’m told there’s no need to read them in sequence. I picked up: ‘The Long Way Home.’

Penny is a best-selling author and the characters in her book, set in Quebec, are delightful. The insights, woven into the story, are unexpected. One old, curmudgeonly poetess says, “Fear lives in the head. And courage lives in the heart. The job is to get from one to the other.” How can you not love such characters?

The other book I finished reading before starting Penny’s was Gail Caldwell’s “Let’s Take The Long Way Home.” I didn’t see the sameness in the titles until many days later. Caldwell’s memoir is about her deep friendship with another woman, writer Caroline Knapp, who dies. (No spoiler here, the book begins with Knapp’s death). 

The term ‘soulmate’ often gets bandied about in the context of romantic relationships. I’ve frequently disagreed with this, albeit not publicly (although, I suppose, this is public), wary of being labelled a cynic. But my objection was usually the cheapening and narrow application of the term. A soulmate connection need not be a romantic one. It can also be a friendship where you see into the other’s heart and soul. Caldwell’s memoir demonstrates this through exquisite prose, not sentimental yet deeply moving. The bond between the two women, one in her mid-thirties, the other (Caldwell), nine years older, both fervent dog-lovers, writers and odd misfits is one of those ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ friendships that we all wish for, but not all of us will find. 

Once I saw the similarity in the titles of the two books I’d read, in succession, I realized that the theme of ‘home’ had been cropping up lately. Coincidence? And do coincidences mean anything? Sometimes perhaps, sometimes not.  They may be just random acts of the universe, or, perhaps, little signals urging us to slow down and pay attention to a life speeding by.

In addition, the Penny story involves many references to Canadian art and Canadian painters, which I read with great interest (painting being my latest pastime). Tom Thomson is mentioned in the book, another coincidence, as I’d recently attempted to reproduce one of his paintings.

Home. I’m home now, back from my country retreat. While I do not know why the word keeps cropping up and presenting itself to me in various ways, I do know that whenever I return home from a trip, be it short or long, there’s a delicious feeling of ease and contentment. I once read something (source unknown) that resonated and stayed with me: “After travelling, we need to get home to remember who we are.”

My inept rendition of a Tom Thomson. Although, we must learn from the masters before we can develop our own style.