A Bend in the Road

Nicholas Sparks

A Bend in the Road is the love story of Miles Ryan and Sarah Andrews. It wasn't an easy romance, the narrator explains. Miles had been married to his high school sweetheart until she was killed in an auto accident at age 29. Now, two years later, Miles and his son Jonah are getting past the original grieving stages and are able to take on life again.

Sarah is Jonah's second grade teacher who discovers Jonah can't read or write. His previous teachers had passed him on because of the hardship he has been enduring. Something has to be done. She sets up a parent-teacher conference. When the two adults meet there is an immediate spark of attraction.

Taking that spark into a relationship isn't easy for either one of them. Missy had been in Miles' life since high school; he doens't know how to date any more. Sarah came out of a failed marriage with a personal secret few people know. There is one other major obstacle. The person driving the car who hit Missy still hasn't been found. Miles is learning to deal with that, but each time a new possibility of the driver appears, he disappears into his personal memories and investigation and memories.

Once again Sparks brings the reader a sentimental novel of everyday people. The story is readable and predictable. The writing is flowingly average. Miles and Sarah feel like a man and woman any of us could know although they never come off the page into real people. A Bend in the Road is schmaltz to bring on tears and smiles, something that is Sparks' forte.

Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations