A Short Review: Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

Sparks’ website: http://www.nicholassparks.com/

Once again Nicholas Sparks has a #1 New York Times Best Seller and sold the rights for a movie. This author who has taken America by storm is on to something. He creates books that people want to read and want to see made into movies. I just read his bio, and I’ve got to admit, not only does he have a lot going for him, but he’s paid his dues in life too. He is surely an inspiration to many writers. Nights in Rodanthe (Warner Books) was a quick read, but a memorable one. Sparks works hard at character development, and it shows in his writing. After reading the novel, I felt like I knew and had always known Paul and Adrienne.  The story is a hopeful reminder of what can happen to two people in one weekend, and as the back cover of my edition says, “a moving reminder that love is possible at any age, at any time, and often comes when we least expect it.”

The storm setting along the Outer Banks echoes and mirrors the inner personal storms the main characters have experienced and are experiencing. The conflict is mainly inner, provided by the sense of duty, the guilt, the choices facing the characters.  As usual when I do a review, I’d like to provide a couple of good quotations:

“Comfort could be found in the steady routines of life” (9).

[Paul was] “someone who’d not only made the decision to change the rules that he’d always lived by, but was doing so in a way that most people would be terrified to contemplate” (122).

There are other quotations that I liked, but perhaps this selection will pique your interest to read the novel.