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Critic's Corner
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From Nicholas Sparks the Number One New York Times bestselling author and America's favorite chronicler of love stories comes the long-awaited follow-up to his classic, "The Notebook." In "The Wedding," Nicholas Sparks brings his readers the story of Wilson Lewis, son-in-law of Allie and Noah Calhoun (of "The Notebook") and that of his wife Jane and children Anna, Leslie, and Joseph. Far away from murder, mayhem, and maniacs, "The Wedding" is a slice of life readers will take to their hearts. The time is October 2003 and after almost 30 years of marriage, Wilson Lewis is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. He questions, "Is it possible for a man to truly change? Or do character and habit form the immovable boundaries of our lives?" Wilson realized the romance had left his marriage on an October day some fourteen months ago. He'd forgotten his and Jane's 29th Wedding anniversary. He apologized, of course, but the damage was done. Not even the expensive bottle of perfume he bought her the next day helped. He still loved Jane, but was no longer sure she still loved him. He sensed Jane's displeasure in an absentminded spouse and the traces of an older melancholy—as if his lapse were simply the final blow in a long series of careless missteps. Now Wilson is not by nature a sentimental man. He does not lose himself in films or plays and he's never been a dreamer. If he aspires to any form of mastery at all, ". . . it is one defined by rules of the Internal Revenue Service and codified by law." He's an estate lawyer by trade and his working life has been spent with those preparing for their own deaths. He makes no excuses for his lack of romanticism, but hopes readers will view this quirk of his character with a forgiving eye. It becomes obvious that even though Wilson wants readers of his story to forgive him, he has not forgiven himself. I had to smile as I read the passages where Wilson tries to explain himself, as he grasps the seriousness of his situation with Jane. He supported his family financially like most men. Yes, his life was largely centered around his career as a lawyer, and he admits to enjoying golf and gardening on the weekends. He'd given his wife and children a nice, ordinary upper-middle class life and he'd enjoyed it, why wasn't that enough? Wilson says, "Of course, all marriages go through ups and downs, and I believe this is the natural consequence of couples that choose to stay together over the long haul. Between us, my wife and I have lived through the deaths of both of my parents and one of hers, and the illness of her father . . . "All of those events create their own stresses, and when two people live together, the stress flows both ways. This, I've come to believe, is both the blessing and the curse of marriage." Sparks weaves past and present of this marriage together scene by scene. Then, in comes Noah, from The Notebook, and the whole story forms itself into a beautiful tapestry. Noah, now a widower, living in a nice retirement center is seen by his doctors as a bit delusional. Why? Well, for one thing Noah talks to the lovely white swan with the black spot on her chest, the one that greets him every day as he sits by the pond. Noah and the swan have a secret. A secret that no one else would understand. Wilson and Noah are good friends and it is Noah who helps Wilson realize just what is missing from his marriage. The story moves at a rather slow, if even, pace. The setting becomes a character all its own in this touching novel. It lulls you with its beautiful descriptions of the locale. New Bern, North Carolina. A town that is in a flat, low country amid forests of loblolly pines and wide, slow-moving rivers. New Bern, founded in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine settlers is the second oldest town in North Carolina and you find yourself walking its shaded streets and enjoying the oaks and dogwoods, and thousands of azalea blooms. Just as you're wondering how Noah will help Wilson resolve his marital crisis, Anna tells her parents she is planning to elope with her boyfriend. Jane insists that her daughter must have a wedding, a proper wedding not like the one she and Wilson had. It is in the planning of the wedding that Wilson comes into the ultimate understanding of why Jane is disillusioned with him and forges ahead in a most "un-Wilson" like fashion to not only please his daughter, but to give his wife more than one reason to rekindle the passion she once shared with her husband. "The Wedding" is a book for every woman and every man who is married or who contemplates being married in the future. Copyright September 2003 Patricia Ann Jones, All rights reserved
Jones is a published writer & book reviewer for Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com |
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