Amazon.com Review
A Q & A with author
Nicholas Sparks
Q: What was your inspiration to write better than me?
A: I assume that the inspiration was twofold. He had been a long time I had done a "reunion" story (The Notebook), it was time to do something else. At the same time, I wanted it to be different from the laptop in almost any direction. At the same time, I wanted to write a novel about characters in their forties. At this age, people come to accept the decisions and choices they have made in the past. The Best of Me was mainly a combination of these two ideas.
Q: This book is about love for the first time, and how sometimes that love is so strong that it can pass the time and space, no matter what happens. Is this something you think?
: Yes, I think it's possible. First love is always strong, and some people who truly love last forever. The problem is, however, that over time, love is often romanticized. I wanted to write a novel that explores the concept as well. Neither Dawson nor Amanda are the same people who, when they were younger, and little by little, the romance of the story is reduced over time. For them, however, the new reality, however, left them feeling the same way from each other, as it once was. And yet, they fell in love again. Or maybe, phrasing it differently, they have never been in love before.
Q: The former lovers Amanda Collier High School and Dawson Cole again after 25 years, when his mentor, Tuck Hostetler, die and are reminded Eastern North Carolina for the funeral. One of the things that led Amanda Dawson and abroad is that they were on the other side of the tracks. Class differences are still part of everyday life in a city like Eastern North Carolina?