The Long Walk Home by Will North

If you look up the word "fidelity" in the dictionary, you'll find 6 or 7 various definitions of the word. The fourth, however, is what took me by surprise. It states that fidelity is "an adherence to fact or detail." Now, when you think of this explaination, this is not what you would originally believe this word to mean. We equate being faithful or maintaining relational fidelity as a choice driven by the heart and not some obligation to facts. But after reading The Long Walk Home, it possesed a deeper weight of truth than I could have imagined.

This novel, was first of all, beyond what I had thought it would be--and in a good way! It details the amazing story of two individuals who believed that love--the true and life altering kind--was far beyond their reach or not destined to be apart of their present reality. Of course, the moment they meet, they begin this complex struggle of dealing with the adherence to the facts and details of their mutually exclusive, and yet, increasingly intertwined, lives. Yes, it is, in essence, your basic love story. But the layers of their lives--one dealing with a sudden loss and the other dealing with the realization that their marital spouse is more like a habitual roommate--are bound together by a truly indepth passion for each other. Ask yourself, what would you do when you know you've met the person who was ment for you but had to sit back and allow life to happen, good or bad?

I honestly couldn't give enough praise to Will North's first novel. I was completely touched and enthrolled by this story of loss, love, and how the technicalities of our lives may force what feels right, what looks right, what is right to take a backseat... at least, for a little while.

...by the way, if I haven't mentioned it already, it's utterly romantic...