The Long Way Back

Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Part I: Charlie Instagram Post #1 Four Years Later… Chapter 1 Instagram Post #2 Chapter 2 Instagram Post #57 Chapter 3 Instagram Post #188 Chapter 4 Instagram Post #325 Chapter 5 Instagram Post #401 Chapter 6 Instagram Post #456 Chapter 7 Instagram Post #500 Chapter 8 Part II: Eva College Application Essay #1 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 College Application Essay #23 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 College Application Essay #28 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 College Application Essay #41 Chapter 15 College Application Essay #50 Chapter 16 Part III: The Sutton Girls Instagram Post #1001 Chapter 17 Sit Tight Podcast Transcript Episode 302 Chapter 18 Eva Explores (#1 Fan Page) Chapter 19 Clash Continues Over Mining Permits Chapter 20 Voice Mail 784-555-4042 Chapter 21 Welcome to the Diversity Employment Fair! Chapter 22 Voice Mail SA Jude Turner Chapter 23 Voice Mail SA Jude Turner Chapter 24 Epilogue Author’s Note Acknowledgments Reading Group Guide ‘Everything We Didn't Say’ Teaser About the Author Copyright Guide Cover Start of Content Title Page Dedication Author’s Note Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright I II III V VII VIII 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 “Extraordinary… Another sparkling gem.” —William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land The Long Way Back A Novel Nicole Baart Author of Everything We Didn’t Say Praise for The Long Way Back “For any parent, the most frightening nightmare is the disappearance of their child. In Nicole Baart’s extraordinary novel The Long Way Back, not only is a mother tortured by this terrible circumstance, but she also becomes a primary suspect. Baart writes with a poet’s eye for language and a storyteller’s gift for suspense. Readers already won over by Nicole Baart’s fine body of work will discover another sparkling gem, and new readers couldn’t find a better place to begin.” —William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land “The Long Way Back is a beautifully written, atmospheric page-turner that brilliantly explores the complexities of the mother-daughter bond, finding it as fraught as it is profound.” —Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of A Good Marriage and Friends Like These “In Nicole Baart’s gripping new thriller The Long Way Back, a mother creates a perfect Instagram life for herself and her teenage daughter, traveling the country while chronicling their adventures for legions of fans. But despite doing everything right, never posting her daughter’s face and never identifying their location until they’ve moved on, things go horribly wrong. Timely and provocative, Baart’s marvelously relatable characters and gifted storytelling take the reader on a wild and unexpected ride. I loved this book!” —Karen Dionne, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter and The Wicked Sister “Riveting and timely, The Long Way Back is not just an unforgettable mother-daughter thriller, it’s a deeply felt love story about the natural world. In beautiful prose, Nicole Baart has penned a novel that will stick with me for a very long time.” —Jo Piazza, bestselling coauthor of We Are Not Like Them “Nicole Baart is the queen of the family thriller! This tender, propulsive story reveals a heart-twisting understanding of human nature and the risks we take to get what we want. Timely and thought-provoking, this “turn the pages as fast as you can” cautionary tale about the danger of the spotlight and the steep price of privacy will surprise you and haunt you, even after the gasp-worthy conclusion. Baart crafts her mother-daughter suspense not only with soul and passion and stomach-churning tension—but also a deep and important wisdom. Book clubs rejoice: this is the novel for you!” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author “In The Long Way Back, Baart achieves the nearly impossible feat—writing that is tense and propulsive as well as poetically rendered. A