Book Review: The Wedding

The Wedding, by Nicholas Sparks

The Wedding is the sequel to Sparks' classic, The Notebook.  Back in The Notebook, we learn the story of Allie and Noah, a young couple who fall in love in the '40s and eventually are able to make their love work, despite odds.  Noah plays a main character in The Wedding, although Allie has since passed on.  The couple would eventually have a family of three: Kate, Jane, and David.  Jane grew up and married a man named Wilson.  The Wedding is the story of Jane and Wilson.

Jane and Wilson have been married for 30 years, almost.  Their thirtieth wedding anniversary is fast approaching and Wilson has planned something special.  Wilson feels really guilty because he realizes he hasn't been a very good husband and father to his family, as he always cared more about work and providing for his family than actually being with his family.  He even forgets their wedding anniversary.  Once he realizes this, he begins to try and make up for the many "lost" years of romance in his wife's life.  Shortly after Wilson begins to turn his life around, his daughter Anna comes to the house one night to announce she is engaged.  Furthermore, Anna wants to get married exactly two weeks from the engagement night, which, coincidentally, is her parents' wedding anniversary.  Jane freaks out at first, but eventually gets excited and starts helping Anna plan her wedding.  Wilson also lends his hand to help plan for the big day by using his contacts and associates.  Through planning their daughter's wedding, Jane and Wilson remember their youth when they were so in love, and are able to rekindle that love once again, much to Wilson's joy.

Warning: spoilers follow here.

Wilson is the narrator of the book and we see everything from his point of view.  We see how much he hurts because he feels as though he has been such a bad husband to Jane.  All he wants to do is make that up to her.  At the end of the book, he finally gets to.  On the day of Anna's wedding, Jane is ready to walk up the aisle and be Anna's Matron of Honor, when Anna comes downstairs and is suddenly undressed.  Anna pulls a bridal veil from behind her back and gives it to Jane.  We find out that "Anna's" wedding was really Jane's wedding, and that Wilson had been planning the event for over a year.  It is no longer Anna's wedding, but a vow renewal ceremony for Jane and Wilson.  When they originally got married, Jane and Wilson married at the courthouse because Wilson was profoundly atheist and didn't feel marrying in a church was appropriate.  And now Jane gets to have the wedding she never got to have.  The entire family comes together in ways unforeseen, and the love Jane and Wilson once shared finally starts to be rekindled.

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I really loved this book.  I love how Sparks tied up all the loose ends and how everything came together so nicely at the end.  I don't think it should be counted as the sequel to The Notebook, but rather as another book that takes place in the same world.  I love how sweet Wilson is and that he feels so bad and how that feeling of defeat is presented throughout the book.  And the feeling of accomplishment when things turn out right will have you cheering at the end.  At first, I didn't like the ending, but upon further reflection, I don't see any other way to end it.  It makes sense to the rest of the book, which means a lot to me.  Congratulations, Sparks, you did it again.

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For Next Time

Murder Past Due, by Miranda James

 

There's a cat in the stacks...and he makes the purr-fect partner for a librarian-turned-sleuth. Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows librarian Charlie Harris-and his Maine coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash. They also know his former classmate-turned-famous bestselling novelist, Godfrey Priest. But someone in Athena took Godfrey off the bestseller lists- permanently, and with extreme prejudice. Now, Charlie and Diesel must browse through the history section of the town's past to find a killer.-Borders.com

First Quarter Down

Yesterday was my 25th birthday.  It was pretty awesome.

Justin and I headed home to SC on Friday for a long weekend.  We rolled into town around 9 p.m. and hung out with his parents at their house.

We woke up Saturday and decided to do a little town-exclusive shopping.  Justin bought some comic books and got Luke a gift card to Wal-Mart.  Then we headed to my mom's house for a little hang time.  The four of us went and had lunch at Ricky's, which was amazing.  (sn: God, Durham has no food in it.)

After lunch, Justin and I headed back to his parents', where we all hung out in the pool for a bit with his Aunt Tracy and cousins Kelsey and Trent.  Then we headed out for dinner.  We were originally going to Apollo's, this little Italian hole in the wall, but when we pulled up there was a sign on the door that said the place was closed from July 2  until July 10, which I think is just an awful long break, just for the 4th of July!  Justin's parents pulled up in their truck and I quipped about Justin's dad treating me to a steak for my birthday, since he had made the comment earlier that day.  He agreed and we all went to Outback, which was really good.  A friend of ours is a manager at the local theater back home and whenever we visit, she usually scores us free tickets.  She was nice enough to give us tickets to see Transformers 3 in 3D.  Neither one of us really cared for it.

On Sunday, we went to Justin's friend Alex's house for a get-together at 2.  Since we aren't sure if we're coming home for Justin's birthday (everyone's is in July; mine is the 5, his dad's is the 11, his is the 24 and his mom's is the 29, so the gas for all those birthdays would be horrendous), Alex decided we would have a birthday celebration while we were home.  A bunch of our friends from home all gathered at Alex's for swimming in the pool and a hilarious display of testosterone surprise.

don't ask.

We all went inside and enjoyed watching "The Princess Bride" and playing Scattergories while a small group played MTG in the living room.  Around 6, we headed back to the house for an all-at-once birthday party of sorts.  Justin's mom had a cake made with everyone's name and July birth date written on it.  Some of us got gifts, but it was more of a sentiment to everyone's birthday than anything else.  My family was also there, and afterward we shot some fireworks even though it was the 3rd.

The came Monday, the 4th.  We didn't really do anything to celebrate.  Mostly we sat around watching the Casey Anthony trial on TV.  Justin took me out on the town for my birthday.  We went to O'Charlie's for lunch (the same place he took me for my 18th birthday) and the food was excellent.  We then headed over to Best Buy where Justin bought DJ Hero 2, since it was super cheap because nobody thought it was cool at full price.  Later that evening, Alex and his girlfriend Stephanie, along with my brother Luke, came over to shoot the rest of the fireworks.  After those were over, we all stuck around to chat for a few hours and then we all headed our separate ways.  I headed home with Luke because my mom had this little neurotic tic this weekend and wanted us to wake up in the same house on our birthday.  Oh well.  Didn't hurt anyone.

THEN there was the birthday...day.  Luke and I got cool stuff.

Our mother had been planning something big for each of us for the big day, and everyone (but me, obviously) knew what mine was.  My big to-do was a stand mixer that I really wanted for my kitchen.  I had had enough of stirring and mixing with my arm!  That takes some powerful strength that I'm pretty sure I don't have.  I'm so stoked about the stand mixer, it's so pretty.  It's red, which matches my kitchen.  I also received a special mixing arm and a cover for it.  Other gifts I got include: a new purse, a perfume bottle, dish detergent in my favorite scent, pearl headbands, a camera keychain, an unofficial tell-all book of Gilmore Girls, and a $50 gift card to Michael's.  I'd say that's a pretty good haul!  My twin brother Luke got a nice menagerie of things as well: a new stereo for his car, a T-shirt, some Dragon's Blood scented incense, a TMNT USB drive, $200 cash, a dragon license plate, and 3 movies.

We also had an awesome cake.  It had whipped icing, which is my favorite.  Luke's favorite color is orange and mine is purple, and people constantly think that we pull for Clemson when we really pull for Carolina, their eternal enemy.  The cake was really good.  After we had opened the presents (which waited until after the reading of the Casey Anthony verdict) and ate some cake, Justin and I had to be big meanies and pack up and leave.

I really hated having to leave, especially on my birthday, but I didn't really have a choice.  Justin had to work today and if I did stay, he'd have had to drive all the way back alone and we'd have to pay for a train ticket and blah blah blah, it just wasn't worth it.  So after we spent good, quality time with everyone, we headed home.

We rolled back into town around 10 p.m., after no traffic whatsoever and a really wonderful weekend in the Burg.  Justin played around with his DJ Hero for a while, and I got caught up on the Internet with blogs and such that had been updated over our long weekend.  I am officially a quarter of a century old.  But I think it's just the first quarter down.  I think I've got at least two more to come.  But I don't think they're going to be this awesome.