The Longest Ride
From the dark days of WWII to present-day North Carolina, the bestselling author of The Notebook shares the lives of two couples overcoming destructive secrets—and finding joy together.
Ira Levinson is in trouble. Ninety-one years old and stranded and injured after a car crash, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together—how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can't possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.
A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, a Wake Forest College senior's life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward —even life and death—loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite ... if the secret he's keeping doesn't destroy it first.
Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.
- Pages
- 398
- First published
- September 17, 2013
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
Finished February 26, 2015
✔ The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks 5★♥ (library audio read by Ron McLarty and January LaVoy 5★) (kindle own 4.5★) I absolutely loved Luke!!!! He's a professional bull rider and pure cowboy. And yes I am looking forward to seeing the movie. Clint Eastwood's son, Scott is casted as Luke. I did end up envisioning Scott Eastwood while I listened/ read this book (doing what's called immersion reading with both a library audio and my kindle edition book). The audio is great. There is no doubt that the audio is winner for Audie Award, Romance 2014, and IMO it didn't have much competition. Like the other book of Spark's that I read (The Lucky One), and the movies I've seen, The Longest Ride is a tear-jerker. I loved all three characters in this - Ira, Sophia and especially Luke! The audio has January LaVoy reading for Luke and I ended up not liking it so much. And so I read through Luke's chapters without the audio at times. But Ron McLarty did an excellent job reading the chapters for Ira. Some of the chapters were long so just listening to the audio was enough for me. His love story was the one that was the tear-jerker. The old man's life story and a lifelong relationship with a great woman is really sweet. And we know she's gone by Ira's current timeline in the story because she's an angel sent to help him survive (not much of a spoiler there). There is a little timeline confusion in this story. Ira's story starts off on a Saturday in early February. His timeline doesn't change beyond him remembering about his past and about the love of his life, Ruth. And the chapters always start and end with Ira in early February. Sophia and Luke's story starts off in mid October - more than 4 months before Ira's story timeline. And if it weren't for the audiobook I would've forgotten about that at times. The audiobook has a piano melody played in the background in between Sophia/ Luke's story with Ira's so I was able to remember there was a shift there. This story has left me with a book-hangover. I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing the movie come April. Love the trailer!!!!