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There's nothing quite like sinking into a Nicholas Sparks novel. You know that you're in for a love story about the bond between a salt-of-the-earth guy and a sophisticated-but-sweet girl that breaks your heart as it edges ever so gently into poignance and sometimes darkness. Yet as I began reading Sparks' latest, Dreamland, I realized that it would be different. Although it follows the budding romance between Colby, who gave up his dream of being a musician to run the family farm, and Morgan, a spectacular singer intent on achieving stardom in Nashville, there's something else: Beverly and her six-year-old son, Tommie, on the run from her dangerous husband.
If this scenario sounds familiar, then it's because Sparks' Safe Haven was also about a woman fleeing an abusive spouse. But in Dreamland, Sparks goes much deeper. He gives us every visceral detail of Beverly's struggle: the sweat that soaks her disguise in the merciless southern sun as she walks miles to buy what little food she can afford for Tommie, the terror when a cashier comments that she looks familiar, and has she been in the store before? The risk she takes hitchhiking to Tommie's school to deliver his forgotten lunch. Her exhaustion from scrubbing the ramshackle house that she rents in the middle of nowhere, no questions asked. Beverly's anxiety is so palpable it's painful, and as I read, it made me anxious too.
Sparks switches between Colby's and Beverly's stories throughout the novel, finally combining them in a powerful denouement that answers every question. Although I had an inkling of the twist, the full scope of it, once revealed, was a shocker. And I thought what I always think when closing a Sparks book: Sparks isn't a master of just love stories, he's a master of life stories, showing us what it means to be human and happy (or not) through his fate-fueled narratives.
Even if that sometimes means battling nightmares before reaching the peace of dreamland.
6 comments:
Thanks for your sharing...
He definitely has a way of making two worlds collide in his storytelling. Thanks for the wonderful review. However, I don't know if I could read him too often. He puts the reader through a lot. 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗Thanks for your comments. Sometimes, I think I don't write about Bren enough. Of course, I wasn't sure if was going to get Rico and Liv to really be together. But sometimes, I feel in stories some of those who never get together should be the ones together.
Oh, Sparks does have a way of getting to the heart of things. Thanks so much for the delightful review. All the best to your year of reads and more!💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖Thanks for your comments too. I like the idea of Brooklyn closing one chapter of her life and moving forward and maybe Harley and Brick have grown a little more too.
Sounds like quite the page turner!! As I was reading your review, it sounded familiar to Safe Haven (never read the book, but my mom has watched the movie before a few times). I think it's cool that Nicholas Sparks writes classic love stories along with nail biters as such. Cool!!!
So good to read your review. I know I don't read him enough. But sometimes, I just can't. But his novels are very inspiring. Thanks for being here!
Oh, he does have a way of creating nightmares. And they can be so gritty at times. Thanks for the wonderful review!💗💖💕💗❄️ Of course, I tend to like to create nightmares too..and then wonder how to get out of them..but he is the master!
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