“’When you’ve forgotten a person, do you forget you’ve forgotten?’
‘No, sometimes I remember that I’ve forgotten. That’s the worst kind of forgetting. Like being locked out in a storm’”

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer is a novella by Swedish blogger, columnist and author, Fredrik Backman. It is translated by Alice Menzies. Noah and his grandfather sit on a bench, inhaling the scent of grandma’s hyacinths. Grandma is gone: her body broke before her mind; for grandpa, it’s happening the other way around. Grandpa sits with Noah, trying so hard not to forget the girl he fell in love with, the girl he married, the girl who gave him Ted, Noah’s father.

“’How did you fall in love with her?’ the boy asks.
Grandpa’s hands land with one palm on his own knee and one on the boy’s.
‘She got lost in my heart, I think. Couldn’t find her way out. Your grandma always had a terrible sense of direction. She could get lost on an escalator’”

Noah and grandpa have a special bond: they both love maths, they go fishing together, they stay in the tent on the island. No matter how scared they are about what’s happening to grandpa’s brain, they can play their favourite game, reciting the decimals of pi. And he can tell Noah his favourite joke. Ted never cared for maths, he was a man of letters and instruments. And when he was growing up, his dad was a busy man. But he can’t hide his fear for what his dad is going through now. Grandpa reminds them both that there’s nothing wrong with being afraid.

Once again, Backman pulls together words of wisdom, ideas to make you smile and emotions to tug at your heart strings. A moving and heart-warming read.