The Long Walk Home

Maybe this is no way to judge a novel but I love stories that bring a tear to my eye. I read a lot of suspense/thriller/mystery novels, and along comes this gift from a friend, a novel that pulled me in emotionally instead of intellectually. I enjoyed every minute. I loved the setting, the descriptions (limited just the way you like, with tight beautiful language that says a lot without taking pages to do it), the toggling emotional nuances between the two main characters. Yes, the novel brought to mind The Bridges of Madison County but along with the sweet, old-fashioned heart there's a delicacy of expression that transcends the Bridges ick-factor. A troubled protagonist, riddled with guilt, after some time able at last to deal with the death of a woman he once dearly loved, meets up with the new love of his life. However, she is tied down, married to an invalid, honorably struggling on. (Now here the resemblances get stranger: ponder The Eye of the Needle.) Things twist, as they do in life. One character makes a life-altering decision. It's years before they meet again, but the clouds have cleared. They have a pure future ahead. Ah. Tired of kidnappings, mayhem, terror? Seeking emotional accuracy instead of phony excitement? Look no further. I look forward to Will North's next novel, and expect no less than another morally provocative, heart-tugging story.

Like other readers I was drawn to the cover. I wanted to enter the door and plop down to stay awhile. This is what I feel when I am reading it too. Will North has done a superb job with his first novel. That said, what were they thinking with the prologue! It does give some of the plot way. Do not read it just read the rest of the book!

As a constant reader, once in a while, an outstanding book comes along. Will North's The Long Walk Home is such a book. The setting, the story, the characters, and the splendid writing combine to make a throughly enjoyable and thought provoking novel. An American, Alec Hudson,has brought the ashes of his late ex-wife to Wales to honor her request that they be scattered from the peak of a mountain that overlooks the back pastures of the farm of Fiona, a Welsh woman. But as bad weather delays the task, these two people are drawn together in a passion neither ever thought possible. The tale is of grief and hope, or love and loss and of a deep seated loyalty to values and morals. Is it possible to love again in middle years? Once they have found it, can they ever let it go? Can dreams really overcome barriers that seem unsurmountable? They can, yet North never lets his story slip into sentimental syrup. To the very end of the novel, there is a great satisfaction of feeling that this could happen, and it did happen, and there is hope for happiness after all. The Long Walk Home will keep you up all night reading and you will not soon forget that you have known Alec and Fiona, loved with them, and wished them a long and happy life. It is the best novel I have read in ages, and I nominate it as the book of the year. Bravo, well done.

Will North's description of the Welsh countryside made me want to pack my bags. The love scenes made me want to, well never mind. Let me just say that this beautiful story is cinematic, provocative. And if Alec Hudson exists, I've got first dibs on him! He's the perfect man.

Will North did a wonderful job with his first novel. The scenery is breathtaking, and i enjoyed the characters very much.A book, that keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next. I look forward to the other books by this author.