SAN ANTONIO - I have to say I normally wouldn't read, how shall I say it, a non-guy type book. But when my brother came for a visit about six weeks ago, he raved about it, finished it and then left it. Hence, I ended up with Nicholas Sparks ‘The Best of Me.’
Many of you will know good ole Saint Nic from his work "The Notebook" which became quite the popular movie starring Ryan Gossling.
All right, time to get down to business. ‘The Best of Me’ is the story of a small town romance between a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Dawson, and a girl from a rather well to do family, Amanda. Naturally, Amanda's family is not happy about the relationship and tries to make her end it. Ultimately, they succeed and their cause was helped as Dawson gets into a deadly car accident and goes to jail for killing the town doctor.
By the time Dawson gets out of prison Amanda had moved on, but there was one common denominator that will bring their paths back together years later. He is an old guy named Tuck. He befriended Dawson he tried to extract himself from his no good family's evil ways back during his high school days. And then when Dawson sat in prison, Tuck became the shoulder that Amanda would lean on when she came back to town.
Over the years, Amanda goes on to have a family, loses one child and stays in what seems to be a pretty unhappy marriage. Dawson meanwhile apparently never got over Amanda and ends up working on an oil rig for years, saving his money and sending much of it to the family of the doctor who died when their vehicles collided one fateful night.
Not surprisingly, when Tuck passes away a plan is set in motion to bring the two lost loves back together. Will they both have the courage to follow their hearts? Or will their old lives get in the way?
This is a heartwarming and heartbreaking story all at the same time. It's about true love, a lost love and then what many people never get -- a second chance. I consider this book a ‘can't miss’ and another work of art by Saint Nic. If a movie is not in the works, it should be.
Cheers.
