Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

 My review: 3.5/5

A divorced mother of 3 matured children, Adrienne is nearly 60 years old now. After her son-in-law dies, her daughter loses hope in life. She is struggling so much that Adrienne thinks that the only way she can help her out is by telling her a story that happened 14 years ago. That is when Adrienne, unfolds her past- the 5 special days and nights in Rodanthe.

''Outside rain is falling. Listening to the gentle tapping against the glass, she was thankful for its steady sense of familiarity. Remembering those days always aroused a mixture of emotions in her- something akin to, but not quite, nostalgia. Nostalgia was often romanticized; with these memories, there was no reason to make them any more romantic than they already were. Nor did she share these memories with others. They were hers, and over the years, she'd come to view them as a sort museum exhibit, one in which she was both the curator and the only patron. And in an odd way, Adrienne had come to believe that she's learned more in those five days she had in all the years before and after.''

Nicholas Sparks has finally focused on the love between two middle aged people. Its true, love doesn't have an age. This is not a typical love story where a teenage guy meets a teenage girl and they fall in love but about two people who have spent half of their lives struggling within themselves and have finally figured out the ideal lives they want to have onwards. Adrienne, who is 45 at that time gives a favour to a friend by looking after her Inn while she is away. During that weekend, Paul, whose wife had left him months ago, is the only guest in the Inn. As someone said -'the way its meant to be', two lonely people fall in love, but as faith would have it, Paul has to fix something before he can spend life with Adrienne- his relationship with his son who is in Ecuador now. Just in 5 days, he is madly in love with Adrienne that he promises to come back as soon as his son and he are in good terms but will he come back?

As great is the story of Paul and Adrienne, the story of Robert Torrelson and his wife is heartbreaking too; the kind of story that will hunt forever in the dark stormy nights of Rodanthe.

'''The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over. Those two elements always go together.'''