Gail Caldwell’s Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a moving portrait of Caroline Knapp and of the grieving process in part because of the author’s use of breaks. The scene and section breaks act almost as interchapters, intervening with elaborating information between scenes, while chapter breaks contain the ethereal emotional states that cannot be recollected into scenes.
Let’s Take the Long Way Home follows a generally linear plotline, from Gail’s and Caroline’s initial meeting through Caroline’s death; however, Caldwell occasionally interrupts the story line to elaborate and translate scenes for the reader. She pulls the reader away from the scene and explains why it matters.
The translations are often introduced