Nicholas Sparks ~ The Choice

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

ISBN-10: 0446579920
ISBN-13: 978-0446579926

Book Description:

"#1 New York Times bestseller Nicholas Sparks turns his unrivaled talents to a new tale about love found and lost, and the choices we hope we'll never have to make.Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life - boating, swimming , and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, THE CHOICE ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"

Reviewed by Gina Holmes

The Choice, like Mr. Sparks' other novels, is a bitter-sweet love story. It is told in third-person, (limited) omniscient point of view, where the reader is taken from one character's thoughts directly into another. We spend equal time bouncing between the female protagonist's, Gabby's, mind and the male protagonist's: Travis.

Gabby faces the decision of whether to choose a man whom she has known and loved for years, or a new love who sweeps her off her feet.

Travis is faced with many choices, and each small decision he makes adds up, forcing him into making the ultimate choice--a choice none of us want to ever face, but all should consider.

The writing itself in this novel is not fancy or poetic, but unobtrusively stays out of the way of a compelling story line. Sparks is an excellent story-teller who did a fabulous job of making me truly care about his characters.

The Choice is an entertaining novel told with social responsibility. It does what a good book should: gets readers to consider their own lives. Hopefully this story will have couples discussing what choice they would want their family to make should they find themselves in a similar circumstance. A definite recommend.