Novel•Romance•Love Story•Young Adult•Drama
A Walk to Remember
Nicholas Sparks(1999)
4.5
Pages: 240
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-446-52553-2
Description
A Walk to Remember is a novel by American writer Nicholas Sparks, released in October 1999. The novel, set in 1958-1959 in Beaufort, North Carolina, is a story of two teenagers who fall in love with each other despite being from different social classes. The story is narrated by Landon Carter as an ...
Awards
- New York Times Bestseller
- Adapted into major motion picture (2002)
Excerpt
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When I was seventeen, my life changed forever.
I know that there are people in this world who do not love their fellow human beings, and I hate people like that. There are people who are born cynics and never see the good in anyone or anything. But I also know that there are people who see the world differently, who believe in the goodness of others, who have faith that love can conquer all.
Jamie Sullivan was one of those people.
This is our story.
Reviews
School Library Journal
4.6
A beautiful, heartbreaking story of first love and loss that will resonate with readers of all ages.
Kirkus Reviews
4.4
Sparks delivers another emotionally powerful tale of love transcending tragedy.
Booklist
4.7
A tender, moving story that celebrates the transformative power of love.
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A Walk to Remember
Nicholas Sparks
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Prologue
When I was seventeen, my life changed forever.
I know that there are people in this world who do not love their fellow human beings, and I hate people like that. There are people who are born cynics and never see the good in anyone or anything. But I also know that there are people who see the world differently, who believe in the goodness of others, who have faith that love can conquer all.
Jamie Sullivan was one of those people.
This is our story.
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Beaufort, North Carolina, 1958
In 1958, Beaufort was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone else, and your business was everyone's business whether you liked it or not. It was a place where tradition mattered, where your family name meant something, and where the social hierarchy was as rigid as the oak trees that lined the streets.
I was Landon Carter, and I was at the top of that hierarchy. My father was a congressman, my family had money, and I was popular at school. I was the kind of teenager who thought the world revolved around him, and I acted like it too.
Jamie Sullivan was at the bottom of that hierarchy. Her father was the Baptist minister, they had no money, and she was considered the weird girl at school. She carried a Bible everywhere, wore the same brown sweater every day, and had no friends to speak of.
We had known each other since childhood, but we had never really talked. She was just the minister's daughter, and I was just another popular kid who barely noticed she existed.
That all changed the night of the homecoming dance.
Chapter 2 - The Dance
I needed a date for the homecoming dance, and every girl I asked had already been asked by someone else. With only two weeks left, I was getting desperate. That's when Eric suggested Jamie Sullivan.
"Are you crazy?" I said. "Jamie Sullivan? She's... she's..."
"She's what?" Eric asked.
"She's weird. She carries a Bible to school. She doesn't even wear makeup."
"So? She's nice. And she's pretty if you really look at her."
I had never really looked at her. Not really. But I was desperate, so I decided to ask her.
I found her in the library after school, reading alone at a table in the corner. She looked up when I approached, and I noticed for the first time that she had beautiful eyes. They were brown and warm and kind.
"Hi, Jamie," I said, suddenly nervous.
"Hello, Landon," she said quietly.
"I was wondering... would you like to go to the homecoming dance with me?"
She looked surprised. "You want to take me to the dance?"
"Yes," I said, though I wasn't sure why I was asking anymore.
She was quiet for a long moment, studying my face. "Why?" she asked finally.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to take me? You've never talked to me before."
I didn't know how to answer that. The truth was, I was asking her because I had no other choice. But looking into her eyes, I couldn't bring myself to say that.
"I'd like to get to know you better," I said instead, and surprisingly, I meant it.
She smiled then, a small, shy smile that transformed her entire face.
"I'd like that," she said. "Yes, I'll go with you."
Chapter 3 - Getting to Know Her
The next two weeks were a revelation. I started walking Jamie home from school, and we would talk about everything and nothing. She was nothing like I had expected.
She was smart, funny, and incredibly kind. She volunteered at the orphanage every weekend, helped elderly neighbors with their groceries, and never had a bad word to say about anyone. She saw the good in everyone, even in people like me who didn't deserve it.
"Why do you carry that Bible everywhere?" I asked her one day as we walked along the waterfront.
"It gives me comfort," she said simply. "And it reminds me of what's important."
"What's important?"
"Love. Faith. Hope. Helping others. Being kind."
"Don't you ever get angry? Don't you ever want to be mean to people who are mean to you?"
She was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes," she admitted. "But then I remember that everyone is fighting their own battles, and maybe they're mean because they're hurting. So I try to be kind instead."
I had never met anyone like her. She made me want to be a better person.
Chapter 4 - The Dance Night
The night of the homecoming dance, I picked Jamie up at her house. When she opened the door, I couldn't believe my eyes. She was wearing a simple blue dress that her father had bought for her, and she had done something different with her hair. She looked beautiful.
"You look amazing," I said, and I meant it.
She blushed. "Thank you. You look very handsome too."
At the dance, I was nervous about what my friends would think. But as the evening went on, I found that I didn't care. Jamie was the best date I had ever had. She was gracious and sweet, and she made me laugh.
When the last song played, I asked her to dance. It was a slow song, and as we swayed together on the dance floor, I felt something I had never felt before. It was like coming home.
"Thank you for asking me," she whispered as the song ended.
"Thank you for saying yes," I whispered back.
And in that moment, I knew that my life had changed forever.
Chapter 5 - Falling in Love
After the dance, Jamie and I started spending more time together. At first, my friends teased me about it, but I didn't care. I was falling in love with her, and it was the most wonderful and terrifying feeling in the world.
She showed me things I had never seen before. We would sit by the river and watch the sunset, and she would point out the different colors in the sky. We would walk through the cemetery and she would tell me stories about the people buried there. She made the ordinary seem magical.
"I want to be in the school play," she told me one day.
"The Christmas play? But you've never acted before."
"I know. But it's something I've always wanted to try. Will you audition with me?"
I had never acted either, but I couldn't say no to her. We auditioned together and both got parts. She was the angel, and I was Joseph. It seemed fitting somehow.
During rehearsals, I watched her transform. On stage, she was confident and radiant. She had a natural talent that amazed everyone, including me.
"You're incredible," I told her after one particularly good rehearsal.
"It's just pretend," she said, but she was glowing with happiness.
"No," I said. "You're incredible. In everything you do."
Chapter 6 - The Secret
It was during the final week of rehearsals that Jamie told me her secret.
We were sitting on the pier after practice, watching the stars come out. She had been quieter than usual, and I could tell something was bothering her.
"Landon," she said finally, "there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
She took a deep breath. "I'm sick."
"Sick? Like with a cold?"
"No," she said quietly. "I have leukemia."
The world stopped. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't process what she had just said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, though I knew exactly what she meant.
"I'm dying, Landon. The doctors say I have maybe a year, maybe less."
I felt like I was drowning. "But... but you seem fine. You don't look sick."
"I feel fine most days. But it's getting worse. That's why I wanted to be in the play. That's why I wanted to do all the things I've always dreamed of doing."
I took her hand in mine. It was small and warm and perfect.
"We'll fight this," I said. "We'll find the best doctors, the best treatments..."
"Landon," she said gently, "there is no cure. I've accepted that. I just want to make the most of the time I have left."
"How long have you known?"
"Since last year. That's why my father has been so protective. That's why I've been trying to do so many things."
I held her close and cried. I cried for her, for us, for all the time we would never have.
Chapter 7 - Making Memories
The play was a huge success. Jamie was luminous as the angel, and for those two hours on stage, it was easy to forget that she was sick. She was just Jamie, beautiful and talented and full of life.
After the play, I was determined to help her fulfill all her dreams. She had a list of things she wanted to do, and we set out to do them all.
We went to the state capital and had dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town. We drove to the mountains and watched the sunrise. We went to the beach and collected seashells. We did everything she had ever wanted to do, and we did it together.
"I love you," I told her one evening as we sat on the pier.
"I love you too," she said, and my heart soared even as it broke.
"Marry me," I said suddenly.
She looked at me in surprise. "Landon..."
"I'm serious. Marry me. I want to spend whatever time we have left as your husband."
She was crying now. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."
Chapter 8 - The Wedding
We were married in her father's church on a beautiful spring day. It was a small ceremony, just our families and a few close friends. Jamie wore her mother's wedding dress, which her father had saved for her, and she looked like an angel.
As we exchanged vows, I promised to love her for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live. I meant every word.
"You may kiss the bride," her father said, and when I kissed her, I felt like the luckiest man in the world.
We spent our honeymoon in the mountains, in a little cabin by a lake. For one perfect week, we were just a young married couple in love. We talked and laughed and made love and dreamed about the future, even though we both knew our future would be shorter than most.
"I'm not afraid," she told me one night as we lay in bed, looking up at the stars through the skylight.
"I am," I admitted.
"Don't be," she said. "We've had something beautiful. Not everyone gets that."
"I want more time."
"So do I. But we have to be grateful for what we've had."
Chapter 9 - The End
Jamie died on a warm summer evening, just as the sun was setting. I was holding her hand, and her father was reading from the Bible. She looked peaceful, like she was just sleeping.
"I love you," I whispered to her.
"I love you too," she whispered back, and those were her last words.
She was eighteen years old.
Epilogue
That was forty years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think about her. I never remarried. How could I? Jamie was my soulmate, my one true love, and no one could ever take her place.
I became a better person because of her. I volunteer at the orphanage where she used to work. I help elderly neighbors with their groceries. I try to see the good in everyone, just like she did.
Sometimes people ask me if I regret loving her, knowing how it would end. The answer is always no. Loving Jamie was the best thing I ever did, even though losing her was the hardest thing I ever endured.
Because love like that, true love, is worth any amount of pain. It's worth everything.
Jamie taught me that love is like the wind - you can't see it, but you can feel it. And I feel her love every day, in every sunset, in every act of kindness, in every moment of beauty.
She may be gone, but our love will last forever. And that's a walk to remember.
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