The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

"When her mother forces her to spend the holidays with his father in a village in North Carolina, Ronnie Miller a 17-year-old can not imagine a worse torture. Three years ago his parents separated, but she never got over it.

His father, concert pianist and piano teacher, living away from everything in a house near the beach, where Ronnie and her younger brother go to a holiday. In this idyllic setting, Ronnie discover the importance of different kinds of love that can populate a person's life: the one between parents and children, love for music and the most important to her first love for a boy ."

 Summary 

Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside down when her parents divorced and her father, Steve, moved to Wrightsville, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains distant from her parents, particularly Steve, until her mother decides it would be everyone’s best interest if she and her brother spent the summer with him. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects Steve’s attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer’s end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she thought she’d ever be attracted to, and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the greatest happiness – and pain – that she has ever known. Ronnie finds out that Steve has stomach cancer.From here she must overcome her fears, but above all should think about how to recover the time with his father.

 The Film Adaption 

The film version of The Last Song was released in the U.S. on March 31, 2010, Unlike previous adaptations of Sparks' novels, Sparks participated in writing the film's screenplay; after agreeing to the project, Sparks invited his college roommate Jeff Van Wie to co-write the script. With Van Wie's help, Sparks finished the screenplay before he began writing the novel. The Last Song is director Julie Anne Robinson's first feature film. The film stars Miley Cyrus as Ronnie, along with Greg Kinnear as Steve, Liam Hemsworth as Will Blakelee, Kelly Preston as Kim, and Bobby Coleman as Jonah.

 The Review 

"The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is a ‘beautiful’ novel. Yes, that is the word that comes to my mind to describe the story. As I flipped through the last pages of the novel my eyes glittered with tears, of sorrow and of joy and after reading the book amidst the tears, I had a satisfied smile on my face, the kind one has after reading a good book. The book will take you through a journey of all these different emotions. Sparks has this innate ability to get to the heart of relationships and bring out the complexities therein. This novel touches an aspect of parent- children relationship, girl friend – boy friend relationship, brother-sister relationship and friendship in general. The novel has also been made into a movie. In fact, it was written to be made into a movie. The Last Song is perhaps one of the best of Sparks’ books and a must read for all who enjoys his writings.

The story might seem predictable but still it will move you to tears. All the characters seems real and are well defined. As Ronnie’s life changes, the readers can feel the way she matures from a rebellious teenager to a young woman of substance. I loved the character of Jonah too. He is intelligent, adorable and a witty child and the way he cares for his father and sister is simply moving. Steve, too as a father does his best to spend meaningful time with his children. His unconditional love for his children, patience with Ronnie and his belief in her and finally his love for music is remarkable.

The story gives an important lesson to its readers too. Forgiveness is the key to happiness. Life is too short to hold grudges against others. So, forgive and forget and move forward in life."

 If you want to know about its author, Nicholas Sparks, Clic here!