Summary from GoodReads is at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/763231.A_Bend_in_the_Road
It's the story of how Miles Ryan and Sarah Anderson fell in love. But really it's the story of Missy Ryan's tragic hit-and-run death and the person who killed her and never confessed to the crime. It's about grief and small-town living and family and secrets and forgiveness and letting go and everything else that's in between. It's about how the world is not meant to be what it is. And how tragically beautiful humans are.
I thought the plot was very excellent, as Sparks' books normally are. I'm glad the book had a happy ending! (Sorry if I ruined it for you). It's like the Rescue in that way, but where the events in the Rescue were random and bizarre, what happens in ABITR is realistic. What I didn't like was how the killer narrated parts of the book. It was just hard to get a sense of him, and I wanted that. I liked how the characters developed--they show the fierce strength and determination of the human spirit. I liked the ghost story and how Sarah and Miles fell in love. And Jonah was as darlin' as ever. Plus the novel was set in New Bern, North Carolina. The place seems like somewhere perfect. Somewhere perfect.
I don't really have much more to say. The cover is perfect for the plot (can't leave that detail out!) So I'll leave it off with this: It's a pretty darn good read.
“Where does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started. Yet there are moments when fate intersects with our daily lives, setting in motion a sequence of events whose outcome we could never have foreseen.” --from ABITR
