The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10)

by Louise Penny

“There is a balm in Gilead,” she read from the back, “to make the wounded whole—” “There’s power enough in Heaven / To cure a sin-sick soul.” Armand Gamache finished the phrase. “It’s from an old spiritual.” Clara stared at the back cover. “Do you believe it, Armand?” “Yes.” He took the book from her and grasped it so tightly in one hand she half expected words to squeeze out. “Then what are you struggling with?” When he didn’t answer, she had her answer.

Love, love, love that spiritual. Hope. Healing. And for Armand, at this point in his life, so wounded deep down, there is comfort. The Long Way Home is one of my personal favourite books, perhaps because it’s very quiet. Inverted even, like the cover. We travel deeper and deeper, into the search for Peter, into Quebec, and into Armand’s pain. But always, always, with awareness, that there is a balm, that can make the wounded whole. I’m often asked about the book Armand is reading and if it’s a real book. It is not. Just something I made up.