Sparks' second novel proves that his best-selling The Notebook (1996) was no fluke as, once again, he offers his audience a deeply moving, beautifully written, and extremely romantic love story. Theresa Osborne is a divorced mother and Boston newspaper columnist, disillusioned with the single men she meets and yearning for someone special. When her son goes to California to stay with her ex-husband, she decides to go on a vacation to the Cape with Deanna, her editor and best friend. While jogging on the beach, Theresa discovers a bottle with a letter tucked inside from a man named Garrett to a woman named Catherine in which he describes the heartache of losing her. The letter moves Theresa to tears, so Deanna convinces her to print it in her column, thereby setting off a surprising chain reaction: it turns out that others have also found letters by Garrett. Imagining that this is the sort of man she has been seeking, Theresa sets out to find him, following various clues found in the letters. She succeeds and discovers that, indeed, he is everything she hoped he would be, including sincere, and therein lies the problem. His profound attachment to Catherine is a serious threat to their burgeoning relationship. Sparks' tale about the obstacles people face in second relationships is sensitive, wonderfully bittersweet, and ultimately hopeful. Pat Engelmann
From Kirkus Reviews
Famous from the best-sellerdom of The Notebook (1996), Sparks sails again into the waters of many tearsthough this time, thanks to fewness of charms in the writing and diminished reason to suspend disbelief, Kleenex sales are likely to remain stable. Boston Times columnist Theresa Osborne finds a bottle on the Cape Cod beach where shes vacationing. Inside? Well, a letter from one love-lorn Garrett to a sadly missed Catherine. Reading it brings the not-long-ago divorced Theresa Osborne to tears, though others may have their own responses (I miss you, my darling, as I always do, but today is especially hard because the ocean has been singing to me. . . ). Theresa runs the letter in her Times column (though her beat is really parenting), and, remarkably (But what did it all mean?), another Garrett-Catherine letter surfaces, in the possession of a Norfolk, Virginia, reader of the column. Suffice it so say (I think of you, I dream of you, I conjure you up when I need you most), especially after a third letter comes to light, Theresa really wants to meet Garrett. So after little detective work she flies to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, visits the docks (She stepped out of her car, brushed the hair from her face, and started toward the entrance), boards Garretts sailing boat, the Happenstance, and meets the remarkable Garrett himself (There was something mysterious and different about the way he acted, something masculine). An evening sail, some more hair-tossing, and a new romance is well underwaythough the question remains whether Garrett can free himself from his grief and love for the tragically dead Catherine, his wife of nine years. Telling wouldnt be fair, though Theresa says at one point: ``I love you, too, Garrett. But sometimes love isnt enough.'' Prizes: Worst writing: Garretts letters. Best scene: storm at sea. Most unbelievable scene: same storm at sea. Worst example of. . . . But enough already. (First printing of 750,000; film rights to Warner Bros.) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
His dialogue is often banal, and his cliché-heavy prose ... may sometimes make you wince. But the novel's unabashed emotion--and an unexpectedly tragic turn--will just as likely put tears in your eyes. -- People, Cynthia Sanz
The farfetched plot of Message in a Bottle is more likely to elicit fits of giggles than flutters of the heart, and it leaves the mind quite numb. -- The New York Times Book Review, Sarah Harrison Smith
From the Back Cover
With over 6 million copies in print of his first two New York Times bestsellers, THE NOTEBOOK and MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, Nicholas Sparks has become one of the world's most beloved storytellers...and one whose poignant tales renew our faith in the lasting power of true love.Theresa Osborne is divorced and disillusioned, but all that is about to change when she finds a bottle on the beach with a mysterious love letter inside. What happens next is unexpected, and perhaps even miraculous -- for it embraces all our hopes for finding someone special, for having a love that is timeless and everlasting....
About the Author
With over 100 million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. His novels include sixteen #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all of his books, including Three Weeks with My Brother, the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than fifty languages. Eleven of Nicholas Sparks's novels -- The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle -- have been adapted into major motion pictures.
This two-hankie love story features a rugged but sensitive seafaring fellow; his wise, aged father; and a single, sensitive mother who writes a column for a Boston newspaper. The author introduces them, sets up an impossible dilemma, and then weasles out by introducing tragedy. The two readers are highly regarded actors; Boxleitner does the better job, being both gruff and introspective at the same time. Quinlan reads more slowly and with less expression. The transitions between scenes are well handled, with one reader fading out as the other comes in. D.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
I am here to love you, to hold you in my arms, to protect you. I am here to learn from you and to receive your love in return. I am here because there is no other place to be.Highlighted by 406 Kindle readers
