Long Way Gone

For anyone who has ever longed to go home again, Long Way Gone is a radical retelling of the prodigal son story that takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home. At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O'Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish. Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns home to the remote Colorado mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith. When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it's too late to tell her the truth about his past-and if he is ready to face it himself. Praise for Long Way Gone: "Cooper and Daley's story will make you believe that even broken instruments have songs to offer when they're in the right hands. Charles Martin never fails to ask and answer the questions that linger deep within all of us. In this beautifully told story of a prodigal coming home, readers will find the broken and mended pieces of their own hearts." -Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours "A beautiful story of redemption and love once lost but found again, Long Way Gone proves two things: music washes us from the inside out, and Charles Martin's words do the same." -Billy Coffey, bestselling author of When Mockingbirds Sing and Steal Away Home "With his emotional plot arcs and deeply-developed characters, Charles Martin is a long-time fan-favorite . . . Martin weaves all the pieces of this story together with a beautiful musical thread, and as the final pieces fall into place, we close this story feeling as if we have witnessed something surreal, a multi-sensory narrative for anyone who enjoys a redemptive story." -Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Into the Free USA TODAY bestseller and Christy Award Book of the Year 2017 Stand-alone novel (approx. 85,000 words) Includes discussion questions for book clubs Also by Charles Martin: The Water Keeper, The Mountain Between Us, Send Down the Rain, and When Crickets Cry