Grand Central Publishing
Featuring: Ira
496 pages ISBN: 1538709805 EAN: 9781538709801 Kindle: B00BOTU42A Mass Market Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
Ira Levinson, a ninety-one-year-old widower, is trapped in his car after an accident. Sophia Danko, a college senior, unexpectedly meets Luke, a bull-riding cowboy and rancher. What could these people possibly have in common?
Told in the voices of all three individuals, readers follow their stories as parallel love stories come to life in THE LONGEST RIDE by Nicholas Sparks. Ira's marriage and life with his deceased wife Ruth was a love story of epic proportions. Sophia and Luke's story, though different from Ira and Ruth's, has the potential to be a great love story as well, unless Luke's secret destroys it.
I found the storyline of THE LONGEST RIDE to be original and unique. The character-driven novel showcases the author's gift of being a master storyteller. Beautifully told and engrossing, the story brings to life memorable characters whose lives intersect in a most unusual way. Highly recommended.
Ira Levinson is in trouble. Ninety-one years old and stranded and injured after a car crash, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together - how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can't possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage. A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, a Wake Forest College senior's life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death - loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he's keeping doesn't destroy it first. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.