Oldies but Goodies

About Oldies but Goodies
Sometimes old books can get a little lost in blogland among the piles of ARCs and new releases. So every week on a Sunday, we're going to be focusing on an old favourite - a book that was published at least 5 years ago and deserves to be recognised.

How to Participate
If you would like to participate, please feel free to leave a comment with your Oldie but Goodie.

**As it turns out, this meme is not an original idea but goes by a few different names at various blogs. Still, I have fun writing these posts so I'm going to keep it up for as long as I have the material to write them! If you run your own version of the Oldies but Goodies meme, please feel free to leave a link in the comments.**

THIS WEEK'S OLDIE BUT GOODIE:

Title: The Wedding

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Genre: General Fiction

Copyright: 2003

Pages: 304

Synopsis: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks comes the long-awaited follow-up to his classic tale of enduring love, The Notebook.

After 30 years, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law to Noah and Allie (of The Notebook fame), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. Despite the shining example of his in-laws' 50-year love affair, Wilson himself is a man unable to express how he truly feels. With the distractions of his daughter's upcoming wedding he is forced to realize how close he is to losing his own wife Jane.

But if Wilson is sure of anything, it's this: His love for his wife has only intensified over the years, and he wants nothing more than to make their marriage work. Now, with the memories of his in-laws' inspiring life together as his guide, Wilson pledges to find a way to make his wife fall in love with him. . . again.

Why I love it: The Notebook is one of my all-time favourite book-to-movie adaptations and I know I'm not alone. The story of Noah and Allie's enduring love just grips my heart - it's one of those books that makes you think about what life's truly about. I could watch the movie over and over again and not get sick of it. So when I learnt that The Notebook had a sequel, needless to say I was very excited!

What comes after happily ever after? That's the question Nicholas Sparks' The Wedding sets about to answer. It isn't your traditional love story - it follows Wilson as he experiences what can happen when you neglect to nurture your marriage and your spouse. However, it's a love story for anyone who's ever experienced or witnessed the ups and downs of married life, for anyone who's ever experienced that niggling doubt about whether or not their love truly will last forever. It's a story about admitting when you've been wrong and about doing anything you can to set things right.

Noah also features in the novel as a kind of inspiration for Wilson to repair his marriage with Jane (Noah and Allie's daughter). There were scenes featuring the bereft Noah that had my eyes misting over...namely to do with him being convinced that Allie's spirit was now a beautiful swan who comes to visit him. The connection to The Notebook is enough to feel like you are continuing with the original story but also allows some new characters the opportunity to step into the limelight.

Nicholas Sparks uses his pen to mine the very soul of love and presents us with a different facet of this complex emotion with every book he writes. This story of regret and reconciliation is uplifting and poignant. I think there are a few husbands/boyfriends who could benefit from reading this novel as a bit of sensitivity training ;-)

Visit Annie @ Princess of the Past