A Walk to Remember (novel)

Did You Know?

• Sparks sold the film rights to Warner Bros. in December 1998, months before the novel was published.
• The film adaptation, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West, is set in the 1990s rather than the 1950s.

Writing

Sparks wrote the manuscript for A Walk to Remember during the summer of 1999 in North Carolina, the novel's setting. The prologue, like that of his first published novel The Notebook, was written last. The title comes from a line near the end of the book: 'In every way, a walk to remember.' The story is told in first-person by a 17-year-old boy living in the 1950s. Sparks drew inspiration from his sister Danielle Sparks Lewis, who died of cancer in June 2000. Although largely fictional, certain elements mirror her life: she was never popular at school, always wore an ugly sweater, and carried a Bible everywhere. Her husband proposed to her despite her illness. Sparks said in her eulogy that he wrote the novel so readers would know what a wonderful thing her husband did for her.

Plot summary

The story opens with a prologue from Landon Carter at age 57, then shifts to when he is a 17-year-old high school senior in Beaufort, North Carolina. His father is a congressman who lives in Washington, D.C., creating tension between them. Landon's father pressures him into running for class president, and with help from his best friend Eric, Landon wins. As student body president, he must attend a school dance with a date; after many rejections, he reluctantly asks Jamie Sullivan, the minister's daughter.

Jamie is deeply religious and carries a Bible everywhere, while Landon is popular. At the dance, Jamie helps him when Lew threatens him, and Landon admits she was the best date. Later, Jamie asks Landon to join the school play The Christmas Angel; he agrees reluctantly. They begin walking home together regularly, but Eric mocks them, embarrassing Landon.

Landon learns about Jamie's volunteer work at an orphanage. When they visit the orphanage to propose a showing of the play, Mr. Jenkins rejects the idea. While waiting, Jamie tells Landon her only wish is to marry in a church with her father walking her down the aisle. Landon begins to enjoy her company.

Characters

Landon Carter is the narrator, a son of a wealthy family. Jamie Sullivan is the daughter of Hegbert Sullivan, the Beaufort church minister; she is very religious, sweet, and kind. Mr. Carter, Landon's father, is a congressman away nine months of the year in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Carter is described as a nice, sweet, gentle lady. Hegbert Sullivan, Jamie's father and the church minister, lost his wife shortly after Jamie's birth; he is old with translucent skin, often crabby but with a good sense of humor, and wrote the play The Christmas Angel.

Angela Clark is Landon's first girlfriend, who later dates Lew. Carey Denison is the high school treasurer and a tuba player with short arms, a large stomach, and a squeaky voice. Miss Garber, the drama teacher, is tall with red hair and freckles. Eric Hunter is Landon's best friend, a popular jock who initially mocks Landon but shows sympathy later.

Eddie Jones, originally cast as the lead in the play, is demoted to a bum role. Mrs. Sullivan died giving birth to Jamie. Margaret, a cheerleader, is Eric's girlfriend.

Reception

The novel was published in October 1999 in hardcover and later in paperback, spending nearly six months on the best-seller list in hardcover and four more months in paperback. Reviews were mixed. The Sunday New York Post called it interesting, touching, and riveting, a book not soon forgotten. African Sun Times described it as a remarkable love story that will touch hearts everywhere. New York Daily News praised it as a sweet tale of young but everlasting love. However, Clarissa Cruz of Entertainment Weekly panned it, calling the prose cliché-ridden and the plot predictable, comparing it to a bad after-school special. Publishers Weekly ranked it number 12 on its 1999 Bestsellers Fiction list but criticized it as a forced, formulaic, and melodramatic package, noting similarities to The Notebook.