“The Best of me” by Nicholas Sparks follows the love story of Dawson Cole—a young man from a never do well family, who is sent to prison after he accidentally runs over the town’s doctor, and upon release is nearly killed during an explosion in his new oil rig job—and Amanda Collier, his high school sweetheart who came from a wealthy family, and who, all those years later, is a married stay-at-home mom who occasionally ventures out to volunteer at the town’s medical center. The occasion for their union is the death of Tuck Hostetler, an elderly car mechanic who was their mutual friend and wished for them to scatter his ashes at a cottage owned by his ex-wife, the love of life who died before him, Clara. As Dawson and Amanda visit Tuck’s estate and fulfill his wishes, they fall in love with each other all over again. But twenty years have passed, and Amanda’s current married life and her mother’s disapproval creates a huge obstacle. But this is not the only problem Dawson faces. Elsewhere in town, his cousins Ted and Abee found out his back in town and want to plot their revenge for Dawson beating them up all these years ago. Not satisfied with a confrontation, Ted plots to murder Dawson. Meanwhile, Abee is caught up in a romance of his own—one that ultimately turns dangerous for all the participants involved. My thoughts: as in many of Sparks’ previous novels, this story is told from different points of view. This is an effective device that Sparks uses, letting the reader get intimately acquainted with all of the characters. Right off the bat, we know that Dawson wears his heart on his sleeve—and is a vulnerable character—weighted down by guilt, lost love, and loneliness. Amanda is less of a dreamer than Dawson—preferring to stay in the present, and deal with the cards she’s been dealt. Ted and Abee are both emotionally unstable, violent characters who lack any sort of morality or practicality. And Tuck is a father-figure character, who is above any of the negative events taking place throughout the book, and more of a symbol of how the characters should have acted, but never did. There’s some paranormal elements to this story, but also a kind of nostalgic feel of lost time. You really root for Dawson and Amanda to get back together. But Sparks makes their relationship a mystery—up until the last third of the book. The conflicts created by the presence of Ted and Abee, Amanda’s unpleasant mother, and Dawson’s own demons are nicely incorporated into the plot. The ending is unpredictable, as the storylines of different characters are unexpectedly connected. The character who seemed so minor only a few pages ago, now has a major role in the story’s outcome. And Sparks keeps you guessing until the last chapters. Published by Grand Central Publishing. October 11, 2011. 304 pages. List price $25.99
