book review: a bend in the road

Miles Ryan’s life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. Missy had been his first love, and Miles fervently believes she will be his last. As a deputy in the North Carolina town of New Bern, Miles Ryan not only grieves for Missy, but also longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews. The second grade teacher of his son, Jonah, Sarah had left Baltimore after a difficult divorce to start over in the gentler surroundings of New Bern. Perhaps it’s her own emotional wounds that make her sensitive to the hurt she first sees in Jonah’s eyes, and then his father’s.

Tentatively, Sarah and Miles reach out to each other. Soon they are both laughing for the first time in years . . . and falling in love. Neither will be able to guess how closely linked they are to a shocking secret—one that will force them to question everything they ever believed in . . . and make a heartbreaking choice that will change their lives forever.

I read this book for the first time in 2009 as a sophomore in high school. I was on a Nicholas Sparks kick and this was by far my favorite of his books. I was so disappointed that they never made a movie out of it! 

Reading it 10 years later for the second time, I still loved it! I was surprised by this book though due to the fact that it does not follow suit with the rest of Nicholas's novels in being full on romance, because this one was more on the side of thriller/murder mystery with some love thrown in. 

I could NOT stop turning the pages trying to solve the mystery and I had forgotten over the 10 years and I will admit that I did walk around my house for a couple days being slightly paranoid turning the corners or walking up the stairs in the dark.

Our book club discussion was filled with deep conversation analyzing the character of Miles and the mysterious narrator of the story, who is guilty of hitting Missy. As you can imagine, due to the nature of the incident, there is plenty of room for deep-seeded emotions to take over the demeanor of the individual characters as they deal with both love lost and guilt. 

I don't think we can blame Miles for how he reacted in multiple scenarios throughout the book or blame the narrator for how they responded to the accident. Everyone had to deal with the event in their own way and longingly search for a way to move on, seemingly without any answers which is an unbearable thing to do.

The theme I loved the most was that love really does change everything. It affected Miles' decision to keep searching for answers, it was the love that Sarah had for her student to take the extra time to tutor him which eventually led to her relationship with Miles, and it allowed for Miles to forgive Sarah and come to terms with her connection to the accident.

This was a great read!