A quiet, unsparing novel about love that does not insist on possession.The Long Way Back follows a man whose life unfolds through discipline, service, and moral choice-across camps, conflict zones, courtrooms, and classrooms. Anchored by a relationship that endures without resolution, the book asks what remains when desire yields to responsibility, and whether closure can exist without reunion. Written with restraint and precision, it is a story of memory carried correctly, and of lives that continue rather than conclude.