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Nights in Rodanthe (novel)
Encyclopedia
Nights in Rodanthe is a novel
by American writer Nicholas Sparks
in September 2002.
Set in Rodanthe, North Carolina
, the story follows the romance of a divorced mother, Adrienne Willis, and a divorced father and surgeon
, Paul Flanner. The novel's two main protagonists meet in an inn in Rodanthe and fall in love; however, fate falls upon them when they realize that leaving Rodanthe would mean going back to their separate lives.
Sparks based parts of his story on his own life's events, particularly his courting of the woman he married, Cathy Cote. Themes of love and sacrifice are incorporated in the novel. Nights in Rodanthe was adapted into a 2008 film of the same name
.
. Adrienne Willis, a part-time librarian and divorced mother of three, is helping her daughter, Amanda, cope with depression. Amanda is having problems coping with the loss of her husband and is having difficulties raising her two children. In an effort to show that life goes on despite trying times, Adrienne tells her daughter the story of her relationship with Paul Flanner, whom she met in 1988.
Adrienne was abandoned for a younger woman by her husband. She parented their children alone and took care of her sick father. This had worn her down. So when an opportunity to tend an inn in the small coastal town of Rodanthe, North Carolina, for a friend comes along, Adrienne decides to do it. As soon as she arrives, a major storm is forecast. Meanwhile, Paul, a fifty-four-year-old father, arrives in Rodanthe. He has sold his home and practice, and now wishes to travel to an isolated place where he can seek relief from his shattered life. A successful surgeon, he has recently divorced from his wife, and has had a patient die.
While the storm looms, the two characters, the only people at the inn, find compassion in one another and fall in love. After a few days, Adrienne and Paul slowly realize that once they leave, they must return to their separate lives. Paul explains a promise to join his estranged son in a medical clinic in Ecuador
; eventually, he and Adrienne part. Adrienne returns to Rocky Mount. Paul heads for Ecuador. They communicate through letters, further fortifying their love. Paul, however, dies in Ecuador.
. He said that he contemplated writing "another short love story ... that harkens back to poignant emotional intensity of The Notebook
", his first published novel. Unlike his other works, Nights in Rodanthe was not inspired by a specific person who was involved in Sparks' life; the story drew upon an incident when his mother-in-law requested as a Christmas present that her name and that of her husband, Paul, would appear in a Sparks novel. So Sparks worked on a story that his in-laws would "not only enjoy, but not offend them as well".
Sparks encountered difficulties; it "just didn't seem to come together". For Sparks, there should be an "element that [would keep] the characters apart in order to have drama". Throughout Sparks' career, he has attempted to not use the same element twice, so it had become harder for him to write each new novel. He comments, "If I don't have the 'conflict', I don't have the story, and for the life of me, I couldn't come up with something new to keep the characters apart. ... I also wanted to write a story using older characters, again because it's something I haven't done (with the exception of The Notebook, in which they're elderly, not middle-aged)."
Sparks diverted his attention by working on A Bend in the Road
, his fifth novel, and the first draft of The Guardian
, which succeeded the release of Nights in Rodanthe. However, The Guardian imposed a "tremendous challenge" to Sparks, and he reckoned it would require a "great deal of re-writing". He was tired of writing the novel and needed a break from it.
So Sparks returned to Nights in Rodanthe: "My mind then returned to the story I'd been thinking about, and suddenly everything began to click. Within days, I suddenly knew exactly how to tell the story. I knew the characters, the setting, and especially and most importantly, the 'conflict' that would keep the characters apart." Sparks started writing the novel in December 2001. He finished the draft in February 2002, and editing continued until April of the same year.
, a small town in the Outer Banks
off the coast of North Carolina. He chose Rodanthe because, according to him, it "looks wonderful on the page, and the name itself conjures up a mixture of mystery and sensuality", adding he had wished to write a novel about the place. In an interview, Sparks said, "In Nights in Rodanthe, I needed a sense of isolation. Find another area of coastline in the U.S. that isn't developed where that could happen." The inn, where the majority of the events in the novel happened, is fictitious. According to Sparks, there are a number of bed and breakfasts in other Outer Banks towns that are similar to his description of the inn in the novel, but he chose to create it for the story.
Sparks based parts of the story from his real life events, though less so compared to his previous novels. These events were given twists to "make the story as interesting as possible". The story parallels Sparks' relationship with his wife, Cathy Cote. In his speech in 2002 for the Friends of the Library in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Sparks cited several similarities of the story with his own life. Sparks and his wife, in their senior years, met in a small coastal town where they traveled to in hopes of respite. He recalls, "I sensed something kind and wonderful about Cathy almost immediately, though Cathy (like Adrienne) was a little bit more hesitant in her feelings for me."
The prose of the novel is written in third person. The main body of the novel consists of Adrienne's flashback about her love affair with Paul. Sparks incorporated the themes of love and sacrifice into the story. Adrienne and Paul parted ways for the sake of their children. Sparks comments, "I think that sacrifice is inherent to good parenting. Both Paul and Adrienne loved their children, and the sacrifices they were willing to make made them nobler as characters."
According to some critics, Sparks was inspired by the 1992 best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County
in writing Nights in Rodanthe. The Bridges of Madison County has a few similarities to Nights in Rodanthe: the characters are roughly of the same age and their relationships had ended. Sparks, said he was more guided by his novel The Notebook than The Bridges. He explained that the latter is a story of adultery while his is not. The main male character of The Bridges was a loner without children, while Paul has children. In his official website, Sparks writes, "The list [of the disparity of the two novels] could go on and on, but I think you get the point."
, and it spans five hours and 30 minutes. Scarce copies of the first printing of the novel's hardcover edition are sold; the cover bears an autograph by Sparks.
Nights in Rodanthe has been praised by critics. Sheri Melnick of Book Reviews complimented the novel for its "emotional depth", adding, "No doubt bookstores should sell this tearjerker with a box of tissues, as even the most unemotional of readers will be hard pressed not to cry." Karen Valby of Entertainment Weekly
magazine notes, "Sparks, no slouch when it comes to a sales hook, employs many of the same elements of Robert James Waller
's weepie in his Outer Banks romance." Trisha Finster of Lakeland Mirror complimented Sparks, saying "Sparks has a unique way of going about writing romance in his novels."
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name
, released on September 26, 2008, in the United States. Sparks sold the film rights to Warner Bros.
American film producer Denise Di Novi
produced the film, directed by George C. Wolfe
from a screenplay by Ann Peacock and John Romano. Nights in Rodanthe stars American actor Richard Gere
as Paul and actress Diane Lane
as Adrienne. The movie has received generally negative reviews.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American writer Nicholas Sparks
Nicholas Sparks (author)
Nicholas Charles Sparks is an internationally-bestselling American novelist and screenwriter. He has 16 published novels, with thematic ideas that include cancer, death and love. Six have been adapted to film, including Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe,...
in September 2002.
Set in Rodanthe, North Carolina
Rodanthe, North Carolina
Rodanthe is an unincorporated community located in Dare County, North Carolina, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Rodanthe, along with Waves and Salvo, are part of the settlement of Chicamacomico...
, the story follows the romance of a divorced mother, Adrienne Willis, and a divorced father and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
, Paul Flanner. The novel's two main protagonists meet in an inn in Rodanthe and fall in love; however, fate falls upon them when they realize that leaving Rodanthe would mean going back to their separate lives.
Sparks based parts of his story on his own life's events, particularly his courting of the woman he married, Cathy Cote. Themes of love and sacrifice are incorporated in the novel. Nights in Rodanthe was adapted into a 2008 film of the same name
Nights in Rodanthe
Nights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American/Australian film adaptation of the novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after Unfaithful and The Cotton Club . The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some sensuality" and...
.
Plot summary
The story begins in 2002 in Rocky Mount, North CarolinaRocky Mount, North Carolina
Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...
. Adrienne Willis, a part-time librarian and divorced mother of three, is helping her daughter, Amanda, cope with depression. Amanda is having problems coping with the loss of her husband and is having difficulties raising her two children. In an effort to show that life goes on despite trying times, Adrienne tells her daughter the story of her relationship with Paul Flanner, whom she met in 1988.
Adrienne was abandoned for a younger woman by her husband. She parented their children alone and took care of her sick father. This had worn her down. So when an opportunity to tend an inn in the small coastal town of Rodanthe, North Carolina, for a friend comes along, Adrienne decides to do it. As soon as she arrives, a major storm is forecast. Meanwhile, Paul, a fifty-four-year-old father, arrives in Rodanthe. He has sold his home and practice, and now wishes to travel to an isolated place where he can seek relief from his shattered life. A successful surgeon, he has recently divorced from his wife, and has had a patient die.
While the storm looms, the two characters, the only people at the inn, find compassion in one another and fall in love. After a few days, Adrienne and Paul slowly realize that once they leave, they must return to their separate lives. Paul explains a promise to join his estranged son in a medical clinic in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
; eventually, he and Adrienne part. Adrienne returns to Rocky Mount. Paul heads for Ecuador. They communicate through letters, further fortifying their love. Paul, however, dies in Ecuador.
Writing
Sparks developed the rudiments of Nights in Rodanthe while he was writing his fourth novel, The RescueThe Rescue (Sparks novel)
The Rescue is a novel written by the American author Nicholas Sparks, first published in 2000. It debuted at number 2 on the New York Times Best Sellers list on October 8, 2000, and reached number 1 the following week.- Plot summary :...
. He said that he contemplated writing "another short love story ... that harkens back to poignant emotional intensity of The Notebook
The Notebook
The Notebook is a 1996 romantic novel by American novelist Nicholas Sparks, based on a true story. The novel was later adapted into a popular romance film by the same name in 2004.-Background:...
", his first published novel. Unlike his other works, Nights in Rodanthe was not inspired by a specific person who was involved in Sparks' life; the story drew upon an incident when his mother-in-law requested as a Christmas present that her name and that of her husband, Paul, would appear in a Sparks novel. So Sparks worked on a story that his in-laws would "not only enjoy, but not offend them as well".
Sparks encountered difficulties; it "just didn't seem to come together". For Sparks, there should be an "element that [would keep] the characters apart in order to have drama". Throughout Sparks' career, he has attempted to not use the same element twice, so it had become harder for him to write each new novel. He comments, "If I don't have the 'conflict', I don't have the story, and for the life of me, I couldn't come up with something new to keep the characters apart. ... I also wanted to write a story using older characters, again because it's something I haven't done (with the exception of The Notebook, in which they're elderly, not middle-aged)."
Sparks diverted his attention by working on A Bend in the Road
A Bend in the Road
A Bend in the Road is the fifth novel by the American author Nicholas Sparks, who also wrote the novels A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and The Rescue. It was published in 2001.- Plot summary :...
, his fifth novel, and the first draft of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, which succeeded the release of Nights in Rodanthe. However, The Guardian imposed a "tremendous challenge" to Sparks, and he reckoned it would require a "great deal of re-writing". He was tired of writing the novel and needed a break from it.
So Sparks returned to Nights in Rodanthe: "My mind then returned to the story I'd been thinking about, and suddenly everything began to click. Within days, I suddenly knew exactly how to tell the story. I knew the characters, the setting, and especially and most importantly, the 'conflict' that would keep the characters apart." Sparks started writing the novel in December 2001. He finished the draft in February 2002, and editing continued until April of the same year.
Style and themes
Sparks set the novel in RodantheRodanthe, North Carolina
Rodanthe is an unincorporated community located in Dare County, North Carolina, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Rodanthe, along with Waves and Salvo, are part of the settlement of Chicamacomico...
, a small town in the Outer Banks
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
off the coast of North Carolina. He chose Rodanthe because, according to him, it "looks wonderful on the page, and the name itself conjures up a mixture of mystery and sensuality", adding he had wished to write a novel about the place. In an interview, Sparks said, "In Nights in Rodanthe, I needed a sense of isolation. Find another area of coastline in the U.S. that isn't developed where that could happen." The inn, where the majority of the events in the novel happened, is fictitious. According to Sparks, there are a number of bed and breakfasts in other Outer Banks towns that are similar to his description of the inn in the novel, but he chose to create it for the story.
Sparks based parts of the story from his real life events, though less so compared to his previous novels. These events were given twists to "make the story as interesting as possible". The story parallels Sparks' relationship with his wife, Cathy Cote. In his speech in 2002 for the Friends of the Library in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Sparks cited several similarities of the story with his own life. Sparks and his wife, in their senior years, met in a small coastal town where they traveled to in hopes of respite. He recalls, "I sensed something kind and wonderful about Cathy almost immediately, though Cathy (like Adrienne) was a little bit more hesitant in her feelings for me."
The prose of the novel is written in third person. The main body of the novel consists of Adrienne's flashback about her love affair with Paul. Sparks incorporated the themes of love and sacrifice into the story. Adrienne and Paul parted ways for the sake of their children. Sparks comments, "I think that sacrifice is inherent to good parenting. Both Paul and Adrienne loved their children, and the sacrifices they were willing to make made them nobler as characters."
According to some critics, Sparks was inspired by the 1992 best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a married but lonely Italian woman, living in 1960s Madison County, Iowa, who engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who is visiting Madison...
in writing Nights in Rodanthe. The Bridges of Madison County has a few similarities to Nights in Rodanthe: the characters are roughly of the same age and their relationships had ended. Sparks, said he was more guided by his novel The Notebook than The Bridges. He explained that the latter is a story of adultery while his is not. The main male character of The Bridges was a loner without children, while Paul has children. In his official website, Sparks writes, "The list [of the disparity of the two novels] could go on and on, but I think you get the point."
Release and reception
Nights in Rodanthe was published in September 2002 by Warner Books to commercial success. It was Sparks' first novel to debut at number one on the best-sellers chart. On July 1, 2003, Grand Central Publishing republished the novel in paperback. Nights in Rodanthe was republished in July 2007 by Hachette Book Group, and the novel's cover features the promotional photo for its film adaptation. An unabridged audio version of the novel was published by Hachette Book Group in August 2008. The audio is narrated by American actress JoBeth WilliamsJoBeth Williams
JoBeth Williams is an American film and television actress and director, and current President of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.-Early life:...
, and it spans five hours and 30 minutes. Scarce copies of the first printing of the novel's hardcover edition are sold; the cover bears an autograph by Sparks.
Nights in Rodanthe has been praised by critics. Sheri Melnick of Book Reviews complimented the novel for its "emotional depth", adding, "No doubt bookstores should sell this tearjerker with a box of tissues, as even the most unemotional of readers will be hard pressed not to cry." Karen Valby of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
magazine notes, "Sparks, no slouch when it comes to a sales hook, employs many of the same elements of Robert James Waller
Robert James Waller
Robert James Waller is an American author, also known for his work as a photographer and musician.-Life:Waller received his B.A. and M.A. from University of Northern Iowa . He received his Ph.D...
's weepie in his Outer Banks romance." Trisha Finster of Lakeland Mirror complimented Sparks, saying "Sparks has a unique way of going about writing romance in his novels."
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name
Nights in Rodanthe
Nights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American/Australian film adaptation of the novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after Unfaithful and The Cotton Club . The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some sensuality" and...
, released on September 26, 2008, in the United States. Sparks sold the film rights to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
American film producer Denise Di Novi
Denise Di Novi
Denise Di Novi is an American film producer.-Personal life:When she was three years old, Denise and her family moved to Los Angeles from New York, where her father Gene Di Novi - a musician - made music for the TV shows of Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith. Prior to that, Gene worked...
produced the film, directed by George C. Wolfe
George C. Wolfe
George Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and...
from a screenplay by Ann Peacock and John Romano. Nights in Rodanthe stars American actor Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
as Paul and actress Diane Lane
Diane Lane
Diane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
as Adrienne. The movie has received generally negative reviews.