Author:  Nicholas Sparks
Title:  The Last Song
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing

Sparks fans celebrate! The Last Song continues the author's tradition of heart-grabbing love stories—but this one delivers more than romantic sentiment.

Rebellious teen Veronica "Ronnie" Miller is forced to spend her summer with her estranged father in his small, backward hometown. To avoid him and their mutual gift for music, she seeks distraction for the duration of her self-described exile, connecting with a troubled girl and her group of trouble-making friends. Soon, however, she meets Will, with whom she finds unexpected joy as the summer progresses. But conflict continues to follow Ronnie despite her desire for peace.

Set in coastal North Carolina, the story builds slowly, sometimes too slowly. Sparks wants readers to get to know his characters first, and the majority of the book focuses on them with the plot developing almost in the background. In the course of my reading, I put the book aside several times and did not feel compelled to return to the story, as if I had to get back to it. But at a particular point about two-thirds into it, the parallel plot strands suddenly swerved to connect and overlap one another. From that moment, the story became a must-read.

Sparks tackles themes such as misplaced loyalty, situational ethics, social inequality, infidelity, true friendship, unjust accusations, destructive secrets, and the importance of truth at all costs. He addresses these issues with his trademark flowing style, rushing nothing yet building the tension inexorably towards its conclusion.

Exploring love in many of its manifestations, Sparks delivers his greatest punch not in 17-year-old Ronnie's romance with genuinely nice guy Will, but through the complicated love between family members. Ronnie rejects her musical ability outright simply because she shares that talent with her father. Yet her initial hardness, seen in her attitude and outward appearance (Goth-like clothing and purple-streaked hair), is softened by her affection for her younger brother, Jonah. Ronnie's troubled relationship with her father, Steve, contrasts sharply with the easy joy Steve finds with Jonah.

Steve himself, a former classical pianist, is searching for spiritual truth. He reads the Bible, quotes Galatians 5:22, and quietly seeks a faith he doesn't realize he already owns. Never preaching, he ends up living out that which he seeks—modeling forgiveness and love instead of merely speaking of it. Ronnie is swept up into her father's journey in unexpected and heart-wrenching ways (don't forget your tissues). More than her young romance with Will can ever do, Steve's father-love unlocks Ronnie's heart and gives her a future.

The Last Song is likely Sparks' most overtly spiritual—meaning, Christian—novel. I was surprised at the number of direct mentions of God and the Bible. Biblical themes of redemption, forgiveness, and true (sacrificial) love comprise the heart of the story. Christian readers hoping to see the gospel between the covers won't find it spelled out, but—even better—they will see it lived out. The Last Song would be an ideal book club choice for discussion among Christians and non-Christians alike.

Bottom line? Grab your tissue box … your heartstrings will find themselves dancing to an irresistible love song.

**This review first published on October 6, 2009.