The Choice

Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central Publishing)

5.0 out of 5.0 stars

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This is without doubt one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks books. The characters are exceptionally well developed and truly come alive. The romance is tender, believable and will draw you in. There’s humor and heartache, tears and tenderness. You won’t want to put the book down and it will be worth every minute of your time. I highly recommend it.

The books follows the story of Travis Parker (the local veterinarian) who falls in love with his new neighbor, Gabby Holland (who has moved to town to become a PA in the local medical clinic). Gabby already has a boyfriend whom she hopes to marry but she’s unhappy in her relationship and the reader knows that she is settling for second best. As the relationship with Travis blossoms, Gabby knows that she’s fallen in love and this time it’s real.

[Spoiler alert] Fast forward some years and Travis and Gabby are married with two daughters. Their lives are picture perfect until the accident. Now Gabby lies in a coma and Travis faces “the choice” – will he follow Gabby’s wishes (expressed years ago) and allow her to die or will he hold on and hope against hope that she recovers? The intensity of Travis’s love is too great. He cannot let Gabby go. In the epilogue, we learn that his decision was the right one: Gabby awakens; life is restored; patience and enduring love are rewarded. It will melt your heart. Read it.

This is one of those rare cases where the movie is just as good as the book and perhaps even better. Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer do an incredible job of bringing alive the leading characters. It’s hard not to fall in love with them.

The movie mostly follows the book. One departure from the book is in the details of the accident. In the book, both Gabby and Travis are both in the vehicle when they have the accident and Travis is driving (too fast in poor conditions). In the movie, Gabby is driving alone in the rain because Travis has failed to turn up in time for their date. Nonetheless, the movie captures the very same feelings — Travis believes that he’s responsible for what happened to Gabby and that if he’d made different decisions, better choices, the accident wouldn’t have happened.