The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks, the author of The Notebook, has managed to create the most beautiful love story yet. This novel depicts the story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson as a young couple caught under the spell of summer love. In a nursing home sometime in the 1990’s Noah begins to read a story to a patient who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Little do the readers know but Allie and Noah are the main characters in this novel. Noah continues to read Allie this story everyday in hope that she will regain the memory she has lost.

“Read this to me and I’ll come back to you.” –Allie Nelson

The story begins at a 1946 North Carolina Fair. Noah catches Allies eye and decides that he will do anything to accompany the young Allie on a date. In turn Noah decides to hang from a Ferris wheel until Allie in fear of Noah’s life says yes. Friends of Noah and Allie decide to set them up at a movie. At the end of the movie Noah asks Allie if he could walk her home. Noah and Allie discuss life and love during this stroll. All because of that night Allie and Noah become inseparable for the entire summer. Allie’s mother begins to see that Noah is not suit for their family. Noah is a poor construction worker and Allie is the daughter of a “High Society wealthy” southern man. Allie’s mother sees that they are falling in love and decides to leave their summer home a week in advance. Noah continues to write to Allie everyday for an entire year. When Noah hears nothing back from Allie he decides to leave for the war. While Noah is off at war Allie is in Charleston with her new fiancé that has won the approval of Allie’s parents. One day when Noah travels to Charleston to consult a contractor for the house he is building he spots the love of his life Allie. He leaps off the bus and follows her only to see that she is having lunch with her fiancé. Noah finishes the house and decides to put it on the market. One day while trying on her wedding dress Allie picks up a newspaper and sees that Noah has built her dream house that she described to him one day that summer. Allie decides to drop everything and tell her fiancé that she must travel to the town of her summer home and do some thinking. She reassures him that she is having no second thoughts of marriage. Upon arriving at Noah’s house the two once lovers are thrown back into their love. Allie’s mother arrives and hands Allie all the letters that Noah had written to her in Charleston. She has been hiding them from Allie. Allie is forced to decide whether to live her life with Noah or her fiancé. Allie lives a long life with Noah.

Back in the nursing home Allie remembers and asks Noah if it is possible that God will take them away together. The novel ends with the nurse finding Noah and Allie in a nursing room bed passed on together. I would strongly encourage anyone to pick up a copy of this outstanding novel and begin to discover an inspirational romance. This novel has been turned into a motion picture that brings all of its viewers to tears at the conclusion. I encourage you to ask the questions; How does someone find a love like this? Will Noah and Allie end up together in the end? I believe that The Notebook without a doubt will become a timeless romance novel that many future generations will enjoy.