40 pages • 1-hour read
And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer
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Pages 23-54Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide depicts illness, mental illness, and death.
Pages 23-36 Summary
Noah and Grandpa sit on a bench in the square inside Grandpa’s brain. Noah compliments the space though he notices that it is messy. Grandpa explains—“‘It rained for a long time here when your Grandma died. I never quite got it back in order after that’” (23). The square turns into a lake, which reminds Noah of camping trips with Grandpa when Grandpa tied them together with a string so that if Noah woke up frightened, he would wake Grandpa as well.
Noah notices lit buildings in the distance and asks about them. Grandpa explains that they are archives holding important memories, including their tradition of exchanging “unnecessary presents.” When Noah asks why Grandpa is holding his hand so tightly, Grandpa apologizes.
The square shifts again, becoming stone and filling with mathematical calculations. A dragon sleeps in the center while elves run around trying to catch loose papers. Grandpa explains that the papers contain his ideas and that they are blowing away. When Noah asks if Grandpa’s brain is sick, Grandpa compares it to a fading star. Noah reflects on advice he has learned, recalling Grandma’s saying, “Those who hasten to live are in a hurry to miss,” and Grandpa’s advice, “The only time you’ve failed is if you don’t try once more” (29).
Noah tries to hold back tears, and it begins to snow in the square. Grandpa asks about school, and Noah explains that he was assigned to write about what he wants to be when he grows up. He wrote that he wants to concentrate on being a child. His teacher was disappointed, but Noah says the teacher did not understand. Grandpa agrees with Noah.
Noah notices that Grandpa is bleeding again. Grandpa appears to be searching for something, then focuses on Noah’s feet and notes that they do not touch the ground. He says that he will be “in space” by the time Noah’s feet reach the ground. Noah asks if they are learning how to say goodbye to each other, and Grandpa says yes. They acknowledge that goodbyes are difficult. Noah reflects that Grandma did not allow him to say goodbye to her and remembers singing to her on the day she died, noting that her body failed before her mind, unlike Grandpa’s situation. Grandpa says they will practice their goodbye so Noah will not be afraid.
Noah reflects on what Grandpa has taught him, especially their shared love of mathematics. He notices that the keys under the bench have numbers on them and asks why. Grandpa says that he cannot remember. When Noah again asks why Grandpa is squeezing his hand so tightly, Grandpa says he wants to keep hold of Noah in his shrinking world.
Pages 36-44 Summary
Grandpa walks with his late wife, Grandma, holding her hand tightly. She loosens his grip and asks about Noah. Grandpa talks about how Noah is growing, and Grandma advises him to raise the anchor higher. Winded, Grandpa stops beside a tree carved with both of their names. He speaks about his fading memory and asks where the road leads. Grandma tells him it leads “Home” and explains that they are standing where they first met, at a dance hall.
They see the church where they were married and the house where they lived together. Grandpa smells her hyacinths, and they reflect on their life and the intensity of their love. Grandpa recalls their arguments about the universe, particularly Grandma’s dislike of mathematics, which she viewed as cold. Grandpa describes how he used mathematics to control sunlight and grow a garden in winter, explaining, “I wanted you to know […] That equations are magic, and that all formulas are spells” (39). He also recalls secretly growing coriander each year to annoy Grandma, pretending now that he has forgotten.
Near Grandpa’s garden was in an old boat dragged onto land by a neighbor, which Grandma converted into Grandpa’s office. An anchor sat beside it, and no one taller than the anchor was allowed inside. As Noah grew taller than the anchor, Grandpa placed rocks underneath it so Noah could continue to enter the boat. While speaking about how intelligent Noah has become, Grandpa becomes emotional and again mentions that his brain is shrinking. Grandma comforts him, reminding him of how they once hated sleeping because they missed each other. She tells him that his brain is extraordinarily large, so even shrinking, much of it remains. Grandpa tells her he misses her, and she expresses hope that he is wrong about death being the end, saying, “Lord how you’ll argue with me then. If we meet in Heaven” (44).
Pages 44-53 Summary
Noah and Grandpa are surrounded by gardening tools and scientific equipment. Noah touches Grandpa’s forehead and asks whether his head hurts “on the inside” (44). Grandpa explains that he forgets painful things as well and compares forgetting to misplacing something he thought was in his pocket. He admits that he is scared, and Noah says that he is scared too. Grandpa smiles and says that fear will “keep the bears away” (46).
Noah asks whether Grandpa forgets that he has forgotten. Grandpa explains that he remembers that he has forgotten, but cannot remember what he has forgotten, which he finds exhausting. He compares the experience to waking up without knowing where he is or who he is. As he “raps his temples” (47) while trying to remember, the square around them shifts. Noah attempts to change the subject by saying he will give Grandpa a balloon to take into space, noting that a balloon in space would be unnecessary and would make Grandpa laugh.
They look out over a lake, and Noah notices a barricaded road and asks about it. Grandpa explains that the road washed away when Grandma died and that it is now too dangerous to use. He says it was a shortcut that helped him get home more quickly. Grandpa then asks about school. Noah says they do not do enough math and that Dad is making him take guitar lessons. He tells Grandpa about an essay he wrote on the meaning of life, first turning in “Company,” and then revising it to “Company. And ice cream.” (52) after his teacher said it was too short. Grandpa asks what kind of ice cream, which makes Noah smile and feel seen.
Pages 53-54 Summary
Grandpa and Grandma, young again, walk along the road that leads home as it snows. They talk about how death is unfair, and when Grandma jokes about stealing Grandpa’s heart, they laugh together. Grandpa says that he misses the ordinary parts of their life the most. Grandma says that she misses the dawn and Grandpa. They laugh about their “extraordinarily ordinary” life, and Grandpa “still remembers how it felt to fall in love” (54). They dance together until it grows dark.
Pages 23-54 Analysis
Backman expands the metaphorical landscape introduced earlier, showing the square transform into a complex interior world with more elements that initially seen. This section deepens the theme of Memory Loss as the Erasure of Identity, as the environment increasingly behaves like a living archive of Grandpa’s inner life. Rain falls, buildings glow, and terrain shifts, signaling that Grandpa’s mind is actively reorganizing itself as memory loss progresses. When Grandpa explains that the illuminated buildings are “archives” where “everything is kept” (25), the text emphasizes that identity is composed of accumulated moments rather than a single, stable core.
Rain functions as an early symbol of emotional saturation and erosion. It appears alongside moments of reflection and grief, suggesting both cleansing and loss. As rain alters the landscape, it mirrors the way grief—particularly Grandma’s death—reshapes Grandpa’s mental world. The environment’s responsiveness reinforces the idea that Grandpa’s identity is inseparable from his emotional history. Rather than depicting memory loss as emptiness, the novella presents it as a crowded, unstable space where memories collide, blur, and snap into focus before slipping away.
Objects within the square further exemplify this process. The “unnecessary presents” exchanged between Grandpa and Noah—a plastic bag of air, a sandal, a half-eaten piece of chocolate—symbolize relational memory, emphasizing that even nonsensical objects can create emotional bonds between people who love each other. Hand-holding, which recurs throughout this section, reinforces touch as a grounding force when memory fails. Together, these motifs support the theme of Love as an Anchor Against Cognitive Decline, illustrating how physical and emotional closeness with Noah and Grandma stabilize Grandpa’s sense of self.
This section relies heavily on analogy as a narrative strategy for conveying cognitive decline. Grandpa repeatedly turns to metaphor to explain experiences that resist direct explanation. The fading star analogy describes memory loss as a delayed disappearance: light continues to reach Earth long after the star itself has begun to fade. This image emphasizes the lag between mental decline and the patient’s physical awareness of it. Similarly, comparisons to separating oil and water, searching for missing pocket items, and reading a book with a missing page convey the frustration and exhaustion of partial recall. These analogies contribute to the novella’s surrealist style, even suggesting magical realism, as objects shift or transform without explanation.
At the emotional center of this section is Grandpa’s relationship with Grandma, which is characterized by debate, humor, and mutual challenge. Grandma often counters Grandpa’s abstraction with grounded observations, teasing him about his sense of urgency and reminding him to engage with the ordinary rhythms of life. Described as “the most improbable person he ever met” (39), Grandma represents a force that destabilizes Grandpa’s certainties. Their disagreements—particularly about mathematics and the universe—are expressions of intimacy rather than conflict, illustrating a love built on engagement and exchange.
This partnership shapes how their wisdom is passed down across generations. Grandma’s adages, such as “Those who hasten to live are in a hurry to miss” (29), and Grandpa’s repeated advice about failure exemplify how values are transmitted through actions as well as words. These sayings recur like refrains, embedding themselves in Noah’s understanding of the world. The scene in which Noah teaches himself to pour half cups of coffee so Grandma will not spill them highlights the values modeled by both grandparents.
Space imagery becomes increasingly significant in this section, depicting Grandpa’s fear, his feeling of distance, and his struggle with acceptance. Grandpa’s reference to going “into space” represents the unknown—but also a place of wonder. Grandpa’s body is described as heavy and weakening while his skin becomes “a sail about to be abandoned by the wind” (35). These images gesture toward The Emotional Labor of Letting Go, suggesting that learning to release control and prepare for separation is an ongoing process that has to be learned and practiced.
Throughout this section, Grandpa’s identity continues to fragment, but his relationships remain structured and coherent. His love for Grandma and Noah provides continuity amid cognitive instability; the square may shrink, archives may blur, and ideas may blow away, but love endures as a stabilizing force. This setup foreshadows the reappearance of Noah’s father and Grandpa’s son, Ted, in the narrative. His appearance raises the emotional stakes as Grandpa’s memory becomes more unstable and they are less able to anchor him in reality.
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