The Notebook

The Notebook

By Nicholas Sparks

Just after Graduation 1932, the opening night of the Neuse River Festival in Newbern, North Carolina, Noah met his friends Fin and Sarah for a night of games, food and fun. When he got there Fin and Sarah were talking to a girl that Noah thought was the most beautiful and intriguing girl he'd ever laid eyes on, her name was Allie. They hung out at the festival and drank some cherry Cokes until it closed, the entire time they were there Noah kept trying to ask out Allie on a date but she kept turning him down. Days after the fair he saw Allie again and tried asking her out again, but she turned him down again. Finally Fin and Sarah had had enough, they decided it was time that these two should get together, so they set Noah and Allie up on a blind date at the movies. After the movie Fin took Sarah home in his car and Allie walked with Noah through the town. They talked about their families and the future, after that Noah and Allie could not be kept apart. They spent the summer days hanging out and fell in love. Summer romances aren't supposed to last right? Allie's parents thought so. They didn't like that Allie was spending so much time with Noah because he was not wealthy like them. So, after a heated discussion with Allie about it, her parents decided it was time for them to move away and get Allie ready for college in New York. Noah didn't know how their relationship would work out with her going to New York and him staying behind to work in the wood mills so they broke up. But deep inside they still loved each other.

Allie left for New York and got settled into college. She started to meet new friends and was trying to adjust to her new life without Noah. A few years went by and Allie never received a letter from Noah, which broke her heart because she sill loved him and missed him. During those years she volunteered as a nurse and met a young soldier named Lon who, even though he was injured, asked her out. When he regained his strength and his wounds healed, Lon and Allie went out. After a few years they fell in love and got engaged. Allie's family loved Lon; he was from a very wealthy family and made a lot of money as a lawyer, so to them he was perfect for her. They were all happy and were busy trying to get things ready for Allie and Lon's wedding.

Noah still in North Carolina wrote Allie every day for a year and never got a response. He decided to go into the Army, maybe to try and erase Allie from his mind. Not long after he enlisted he had to leave for the war. During the war his best friend Fin was killed. And it seemed like everyone he loved was leaving him. After the war he went back home and found that his father sold their house, and gave Noah the money so that he could buy the house of his dreams and fix it up like he promised Allie. Soon after, his father got very sick and died, but Noah kept going and finished the house. It helped him not to think about his feelings. After he finished the house he decided to sell it, but every time he had a promising buyer, Noah found some little reason not to sell it. Noah had a few girlfriends during this time but never forgot about Allie. She was a part of him and no matter how many girlfriends he had, they could never fill the void that she had left in his heart.

One day Allie was reading the newspaper and happened to see a picture of Noah in front of the house, their house; he had fixed it up just like he had promised her. All the old familiar feelings came back and she knew that she had to go back to Newbern one last