The bestselling author of Message in a Bottle and The Notebook returns with a deeply moving tale of first love and its transformational powers.
"When I was seventeen, my life changed forever"... So begins Nicholas Sparks' touching tale of Landon Carter, a teenage boy living in the small town of Beaufort, North Carolina in the late 1950s. Landon is a typical teenager who just wants to have a fun senior year before heading off to college. The last thing he anticipated is Jamie Sullivan, the sweet, pious daughter of the town's Baptist minister. But on the evening of Beaufort's annual Christmas pageant, Landon will undergo a change of heart that will forever alter the course of his life. In the months that follow, Landon discovers truths that it takes most people a lifetime to learn- truths about the nature of beauty, the joy of giving, the pain of loss, and, most of all, the transformational power of love.
Nicholas Sparks' most recent novel, Message in a Bottle has nearly 700,000 hardcover copies in print and was on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list for 28 weeks. The Warner paperback edition has over 1.5 million copies in print. In spring 1999, it was released as a major motion picture starring Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn and Paul Newman. A New York Times hardcover bestseller for 56 weeks and a paperback bestseller for well over a year, Nicholas Sparks' first novel, The Notebook (1996) has nearly three million hardcover and paperback copies in print combined.
In the prologue to his latest novel, Nicholas Sparks makes the rather presumptuous pledge "first you will smile, and then you will cry," but sure enough, he delivers the goods. With his calculated ability to throw your heart around like a yo-yo (try out his earlier Message in the Bottle or The Notebook if you really want to stick it to yourself), Sparks pulls us back to the perfect innocence of a first love.
In 1958 Landon Carter is a shallow but well-meaning teenager who spends most of his time hanging out with his friends and trying hard to ignore the impending responsibilities of adulthood. Then Landon gets roped into acting the lead in the Christmas play opposite the most renowned goody two-shoes in town: Jamie Sullivan. Against his best intentions and the taunts of his buddies, Landon finds himself falling for Jamie and learning some central lessons in life.
Like John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, Sparks maintains a delicate and rarely seen balance of humor and sentiment. While the plot may not be the most original, this boy-makes-good tearjerker will certainly reel in the fans. Look for a movie starring beautiful people or, better yet, snuggle under the covers with your tissues nearby and let your inner sap run wild. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Sure to wring yet more tears from willing readers' eyes, the latest novel by the bestselling Sparks is a forced coming-of-age story concerning a pair of unlikely young lovers. In a corny flashback device that mimics The Notebook, 57-year-old Landon Carter spirits himself back to his fateful senior year in high school in Beaufort, N.C., when he was an archetypal troublemaking teenager of the 1950s, changed forever by an unexpected first love. Jamie Sullivan, the Bible-toting minister's daughter, with her drab brown sweaters, spinster hairstyle and sincere, beatific advice, is the obvious target of high school ridicule. Despite conspiring in Jamie's derision, class president Landon, desperate for a date for the homecoming dance, finds himself asking Jamie. Afterwards, Jamie asks him to participate with her in the metaphor-laden school Christmas play (Jamie plays the angel). Landon endures the taunting of his friends and forms an uneasy friendship with Jamie, which is carefully supervised by her father. The teens visit needy orphans, give Oscar-worthy performances in the school play and share dreams watching the sunset. Landon realizes he's in love with Jamie, but, of course, she is hiding a devastating secret that could wring her from Landon's arms forever. Now tortured by his knowledge of what will be her terrible fate, he must make the ultimate decision that catapults him into adulthood. Readers may be frustrated with the invariable formula that Sparks seems to regurgitate with regularity. Although the narrator declares, "My story can't be summed up in two or three sentences; it can't be packaged into something neat and simple that people would immediately understand," this is the author's most simple, formulaic, and blatantly melodramatic package to date. Agent, Theresa Park, Sanford Greenburger Associates. Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild main selections; 20-city author tour; movie rights optioned by Denise DiNovi at Warner Bros.. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska on December 31, 1965, the second son of Patrick Michael (1942-1996) and Jill Emma Marie (Thoene) Sparks (1942-1989). His siblings are Michael Earl Sparks (b. Dec. 1964), and Danielle Sparks (b. Dec. 1966, d. June, 2000). As a child, he lived in Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Grand Island, Nebraska, finally settling in Fair Oaks, California at the age of eight. His father was a professor, his mother a homemaker, then optometrist's assistant. He lived in Fair Oaks through high school, graduated valedictorian in 1984, and received a full track scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. After breaking the Notre Dame school record as part of a relay team in 1985 as a freshman (a record which still stands), he was injured and spent the summer recovering. During that summer, he wrote his first novel, though it was never published. He majored in Business Finance and graduated with high honors in 1988. He and his wife Catherine, who met on spring break in 1988, were married in July, 1989. While living in Sacramento, he wrote his second novel that same year, though again, it wasn't published. He worked a variety of jobs over the next three years, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and started his own small manufacturing business which struggled from the beginning. In 1990, he collaborated on a book with Billy Mills, the Olympic Gold Medalist and it was published by Feather Publishing before later being picked up by Random House. (It was recently re-issued by Hay House Books.) Though it received scant publicity, sales topped 50,000 copies in the first year of release. He began selling pharmaceuticals and moved from Sacramento, California to North Carolina in 1992. In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months. In October, 1995, rights to The Notebook were sold to Warner Books. It was published in October, 1996, and he followed that with Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), and Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), Three Weeks with my Brother (2004), True Believer (2005) and At First Sight (2005) all with Warner Books. All were domestic and international best sellers and were translated into more than 35 languages. The movie version of Message in a Bottle was released in 1999, A Walk to Remember was released in 2002, and The Notebook was released in 2004. The average domestic box office gross per film was $56 million -- with another $100 million in DVD sales -- making the novels by Nicholas Sparks one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood. The film rights to Nights in Rodanthe, True Believer and At First Sight have been sold, and Nicholas Sparks has written the screenplay for The Guardian, though he has not offered it for sale at this point. He now has five children: Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannah. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and children. His ancestry is German, Czech, English, and Irish, he's 5'10" and weighs 180 lbs. He is an avid athlete who runs daily, lifts weights regularly, and competes in Tae Kwon Do. He attends church regularly and reads approximately 125 books a year. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually.
Attention readers: Invest in Kleenex! After reading this book, you will know the reason. Nicholas Sparks has such a gentle, sweet way with words. I thoroughly enjoyed A Walk to Remember, this beautiful love story that pulled me in from the start and held me in rapt attention throughout. So pull out your hankies and sit down for an enjoyable, emotionally charged read.
There was only one reason for 17-year-old high school Senior, Landon Carter, to enroll in Drama - a chance to take it easy for an hour. Plus there was only one other boy in a class full of girls, a benefit of the highest degree. Also in the class is Jamie Sullivan, the unpopular preacher's daughter who no one wants to hang around. She is also the only girl left when it comes time for the homecoming dance. Although not his first choice and the fact that he's running out of time, Landon asks Jamie to be his date. Her agreement became the crucial moment, the pedal that got the wheel to spinning, the stepping stone to one of the most beautiful and courageous love stories ever written.
What a valuable lesson this novel serves to teach. Those who may be different from us, status or otherwise, can be the most wonderful people to know. Jamie Sullivan is a character that is pure in heart and would be such a joy to spend a day with. There should be more people like her, and like Landon, a boy who took a chance on her and found a love unlike anything he'd ever known. I applaud Nicholas Sparks for writing this bittersweet and uplifting story. The time and tears spent on this novel was well worth it.
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This is a beautiful, romantic, heartwarming story that will sure to leave you crying at the end. But as the author states in his preface - "you have been forewarned". I don't read many fiction books, yet when I do, I tend to stick to favorite authors and Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorites. I was hooked after reading Message In A Bottle - another tearjerker.
I am a hopeless romantic and I usually don't read romance books, but this book is superb for all of you other hopeless romantics. This book will tear at your heartstrings and will linger with you for days. I could not put this book down and read it in two days. I was immediately captivated and transported into Landon Carter's world in the late 1950's. Landon does an incredible amount of "growing up" during his seventeenth year of life. The minister's daughter, Jamie Sullivan, helps him to transform from a selfish, self-absorbed "kid", to a young adult on the verge of manhood. Landon conveys traits of tenderness, and compassion, and learns about love and faith and how to forgive, while his love blossoms for Jamie. Jamie is able to bring out all that is pure and good from Landon. It is this innocent love that is all consuming that helps to foster Landon's growth and wisdom.
Jamie may be portrayed in the book as a "goodie two-shoes", but her innocence, her unnerving faith and trying to live her life as God wanted us all to live, endears her to the reader.
The book may be predictable in parts, but that does not deter from the beauty of this story. In the conclusion, Landon realizes what love is and what it really means to love another by helping your love's dream become a reality. Landon's heart softens when he lets his true nature come through and shine - and shine it does. Epitome of true love - most definitely! With Landon's transformation complete, the reader is completely absorbed with these two main characters. You can't help but fall in love with them.
Nicholas Sparks - I congratulate you on another most tender and endearing story.
I absolutely love this book and recommend it heartily. This is a must read kind of book that can't help but uplift you as well. Just keep your kleenex handy!
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Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, and yes, I take great comfort in believing in the power of true love in the world, so if this makes me a sap, then I'm proud of it! I have now read all three of Mr. Sparks' books and have enjoyed them immensely. Will they be considered great literature? Probably not. But they are completely believable and engaging, and appropriate for all readers. They have a wonderful way of transporting you right into the story. You are hooked right from the get go. Yes, they're easy and quick to read, and somewhat predictable, but so what? I've found great life lessons on billboards and posters and calendars so I've never been prejudiced into feeling that only Shakespeare and Thoreau and Milton provide great and worthy messages. I know that many will dismiss Mr. Sparks' books as fluff, but I think that any writing that moves so many people in such a positive way is indeed "great literature." Buy this book, and enjoy! (And buy The Notebook and Message in a Bottle also if you haven't read them yet! I also recommend Richard Paul Evans.)
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