The Longest Ride – NICHOLAS SPARKS

The Longest Ride is written by Nicholas Sparks and published by Sphere.

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus 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.

A few miles away, at a local rodeo, 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.

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.

I have read a number of Nicholas Sparks books over the years and also seen many of them turned into movies. There is never and doubt you know when you pick up a book written by him that the characters are going to be believable, there will be depth to them and that the relationships between them will be brilliantly written. This book is exactly that.

You follow two separate worlds, the youth with Luke and Sophia and then the very old, Ira. Both have emotional stories to tell but I have to say I could have happily have read a whole book just about Ira and Ruth. Elements of their love story was so engaging and yet so tragic.

Without question this is a really enjoyable book, a real page turner and I can’t help thinking that (presuming!) it will make a fantastic movie that will have you weeping right to the last word. 

Available in hardback and kindle format from 17th september 2014 and via Amazon  The Longest Ride