Gail Caldwell, a Texas transplant in Boston, was happy with her life. In her early 40s, Caldwell kept busy by writing book reviews and training a new dog -- she wasn't really looking for friendship.

Then she met Caroline Knapp, another writer living in Boston, and gradually their lives became thoroughly intertwined. Until the day Caroline died of lung cancer at 42.

Now Caldwell has written a memoir, Let's Take the Long Way Home, that describes the unique, sisterly bond she shared with Knapp.

These two women may not have grown up down the street from one another or attended the same schools, but their friendship was just as strong as if they had.

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