The Wish - by Nicholas Sparks

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Longest Ride and The Return comes a #1 New York Times bestselling novel about the enduring legacy of first love, and the decisions that haunt us forever.

1996 was the year that changed everything for Maggie Dawes. Sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina's Outer Banks, she could think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until she met Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island. Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point, Bryce showed her how much there was to love about the wind-swept beach town--and introduced her to photography, a passion that would define the rest of her life.

By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer. She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world. But this year she is unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis. Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she finds herself becoming close to him.

As they count down the last days of the season together, she begins to tell him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier--and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

Review Quotes

"Anyone looking for a sweet story will be enchanted."--Booklist, Starred Review

"As with all of Sparks' novels, emotions play a huge part. Though a bittersweet story, The Wish is a thought-provoking chronicle of a few decades in the protagonist's life. In the course of that life, she unearths her self-worth, self-acceptance, and the magnitude of first love."--New York Journal of Books

"Beloved author Nicholas Sparks is well-known for his heartfelt, emotional stories--and his newest novel follows suit." --Woman's World

"Covers the gamut of emotions from love to loss and will have readers crying gently into a tissue before the end."--Bookreporter.com

"If it's never too early for Christmas in your world, get in the mood with this awww-worthy story of first love and its echoes that takes place during the holidays."--Good Housekeeping

"If wishes could come true, this would be the Nicholas Sparks novel you've been asking for . . . The story of Maggie and Bryce is a timeless, cinematic read transversing both discovery and loss, and above all, the question of what it is we most wish. Epic is a term bandied about too easily in literary circles, but it applies here."--Mountain Times

"Nicholas Sparks is one of the best-known writers in America and overseas for good reason: He has written stories that reveal the yearning for our most prized possession: love."--Mobile Register

"Sparks has definitely mastered the art of love."--Associated Press

"Sparks is a poet . . . a master."--Philadelphia Inquirer

"Sparks knows how to tug at readers' heartstrings."--Chicago Sun Times

"Sure to top the book lists of romance fans near and far."--CNN Underscored

"With The Wish, Sparks reminds us that love . . . will always move you in ways you can't comprehend."--BookPage

About the Author

With over 100 million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. His novels include sixteen #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all of his books, including Three Weeks with My Brother, the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than fifty languages. Eleven of Nicholas Sparks's novels--The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle--have been adapted into major motion pictures.