Passion’s fires
Romance novelist Nicholas Sparks introduces his latest book Oct.16 at The Garde
Have you heard of Danielle Steel, Debbie Macomber and Judith Krantz? You know: Those romance novelists who wish they were Nicholas Sparks?
That’s probably an exaggeration, but it can be pretty accurate to suggest Sparks — who’s, ah, male — is easily one of the most successful writers in “chick lit,” a genre heretofore dominated by women. As the author of 22 insanely popular books including “The Guardian,” “The Notebook,” “The Lucky One,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Dear John,” “Safe Haven” and “The Longest Ride,” Sparks is reliably gifted at hewing literary arrows unerringly targeting the heart.
To date, Sparks’ novels include 14 #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all of his books have made The Times and various international bestseller lists. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages, and 12 of his novels have been made into major motion pictures.
Sparks’ newest title, “Every Breath,” hits bookstores Oct. 16, and the author celebrates that evening with an appearance in New London’s Garde Arts Center. The event is co-sponsored by Bank Square Books. Sparks will discuss his career and “Every Breath” with Erica Tannen, editor of the Connecticut newsletter The E List. After the conversation, Sparks will sign books in the lobby.
“Every Breath” explores the shelflife of long-forestalled but genuine romantic love. Tru Walls, a safari guide in Zimbabwe, travels to a North Carolina beach town to meet the dying father he never knew. Walking along an autumn beach, he by chance meets Hope Anderson, a woman worried about her own father as well as an uncertain future with an indecisive boyfriend. Hope and Tru have an immediate attraction that quickly turns to love over the course of a few short days, but it’s a passion that will have to endure against a conspiracy of time and circumstances. In an interesting structural trope, Sparks inserts himself in the novel as a sort of before-and-after Greek chorus, and his appearance centers around the real-life Kindred Spirit, which is the name of a free-standing mailbox on a coastal preserve on North Carolina’s Bird Island. Kindred Spirit suddenly appeared in 1983 and serves as an emotional way-station for all manners of correspondence. As Sparks describes it, Kindred Spirits “belongs to no one and everyone. Anyone can leave a letter or postcard; any passerby can read whatever has been placed inside. Over time, Kindred Spirit has been a repository of hopes and dreams in written form ... and always, there are love stories to be found.”
Last week, by phone, Sparks answered five questions.
Q. As couples get older, the textures of romantic love seem to evolve in ways folks couldn’t have imagined early in a relationship. Is it fair to say this notion is something you were thinking about when you wrote “Every Breath”?
A. Absolutely! I think that love evolves over time. I believe that, in any long relationship, it waxes and wanes and is influenced by external events and in wholly appropriate ways that over time may lead to an even deeper bond. One question might be: When is it ever OK to wane?
Things happen. You could be in a 20-year relationship and maybe your 16-year-old daughter is in a horrible accident. At no time during that experience is the wife, for example, thinking about how nice it would be to get flowers from her husband. And he’s probably not thinking of buying flowers. They’re consumed with worry and thoughts of their child and family.
Or, more happily, say a child is born. It’s wonderful, but the focus and thoughts are with the baby as bonds develop between the mom and the kid and the dad and the kid. The first year in the life of a child is not easy on a marriage. But when couples love each other, bonding
by this large hawk’s majestic power.
Little wonder, then, that Helen Macdonald, author of the best-selling "H Is for Hawk," found the encouragement she needed after her father’s death by caring for a goshawk. Helen, a falconer, trained and hunted with an intimidating, prickly European goshawk. The species has been used in falconry for eons because of its efficiency in securing small game.
Goshawks are fierce predators that pursue their prey with relentless determination. Their long rudder-like tails and short wings allow them to maneuver through thick forest stands, around tree trunks and through dense understory growth. I once witnessed a goshawk glide down from the high forest canopy, wheel around a large boulder, then, without a single flap of its wings, grab, talons first, an unsuspecting immature ruffed grouse.
In the next few weeks, as the broad-winged hawk migration winds down, goshawks will begin to move out from northern forests. Look for them, by chance, (they are a rare migrant) later in the fall at Light House Point in New Haven and Quaker Ridge in Greenwich. Remember, the elusive goshawk is just one example of many little-known species that are now moving through the region.