Long Way Gone
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4.1 • 10 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
USA TODAY bestseller | Christy Award Book of the Year
Cooper O'Connor thought he could make it big as a musician, but he promptly lost it all. Can he repair his relationship with the father who never stopped calling him home? A Prodigal Son retelling where Redeeming Love meets Walk the Line.
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.
With powerful themes of redemption and forgiveness, second chances, and the power of music, Long Way Gone is a story that sticks with readers long after the last page.
"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
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Martin (When Crickets Cry) crafts a playful, enticing tale of a modern prodigal son. Told as a memoir, the novel begins in the middle of Cooper O'Connor's story as he struggles to get his life together on the streets and in the bars of Leadville, Colo. Twenty-five years earlier, at the age of 18, he left his father's home in a fit of anger, taking everything his father loved including himself. As he seeks to make his way in music, he finds himself gaining popularity and falling hard for budding star Daley Cross. But when tragedy strikes and strips him of his singing abilities, Cooper finds himself alone and full of regret. After his accident, the fear of his impending death forces him to give up the one thing he holds dearer than his songs: Daley Cross. Only after he is broken does he begin to look up, and he searches for the father who never gave up on him. Now middle-aged, Cooper is struck by memories when he sees Daley Cross alone and battered on a street corner. Given a chance at life, Cooper must decide to take the leap and tell Daley the truth before his time runs out.
Customer Reviews
Never Too Far From Him
Charles Martin weaves a story line that winds its way into your soul. His characters are slowly revealed in all their brokenness. Hope is always presents amidst the pain and loss. Salvation is always just a breath away and his story ends in God holding out his hand waiting for us to reach out to him. Walking away may be the start of the story but the distance whispering to come back, resonates throughout this novel until the characters each hear the Father and turn back to him. Another novel to add to my favourites list. Martin writes in a style that soothes your soul.