The Choice (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Choice
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author = Nicholas Sparks
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country = United States
language = English
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genre = Novel
publisher = Grand Central Publishing
pub_date = 24 September 2007
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media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 288 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 978-0446579926 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
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"The Choice" is a 2007 novel by acclaimed author Nicholas Sparks. It is the latest novel by the writer of "The Notebook", and "A Walk to Remember".

Plot summary

The story itself, like many other books by Sparks, takes place in the quaint, coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina. A man named Travis Parker is amazed when he falls in love with his new neighbor Gabby Holland. Travis considered himself as happy as he could be staying single, and is surprised of his emotions. But in the midst of it all, Gabby has a boyfriend in nearby Morehead City, and Travis is faced with a tough question: How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Part 1

The year is May 1996. Noticing that her beloved dog, Molly, might be pregnant, Gabby Holland quickly presumes that it is the work of her neighbor's, Travis Parker, dog, Moby. After storming into his backyard to confront Travis about his dog's irresponsibility, it is suggested that Gabby bring her dog to the vet to confirm. Gabby considers the thought and ultimately decides that her neighbor might be right. So after work, Gabby brings Molly to the local vet. The vet is no other than her neighbor, Travis Parker. It is confirmed that Molly is in fact pregnant.

When Molly gives birth to a litter of 6 puppies, Gabby panics when she finds her dog injured. She quickly runs to Travis' house where he brings Molly to his work. Molly ultimately becomes better and Gabby is grateful towards Travis.

A crush forms between these two. Travis believes Gabby is the most beautiful women he's ever seen, while Gabby thinks as him to be handsome but not appropriate for her.

Travis, then, invites his neighbor, Gabby, to go parasailing with his friends, among them, his sister, Stephanie. Stephanie and Gabby really hit it off. Stephanie suspects that Travis and Gabby like each other and help them out.

Stephanie invites Gabby to dinner with Travis but leaves way before it even begins. They eat shrimp-kababs and look at the stars. Here, Travis kisses Gabby, where she quickly pulls away. But she does admit to herself that she liked it. But decides it to be wrong for she does have a boyfriend, Kevin, who she constantly tells Travis that she is, in fact, in love with.

Kevin is out of town to a convention for work. He works at an insurance company that his dad built. While he is out for the weekend, Gabby hangs out with Travis. But constantly tells him that she is in love with her boyfriend and only wants Travis as a friend. But throughout the weekend's events, Travis tells Gabby that he has fallen in love with her. Gabby returns the saying. They made love throughout the weekend, even though Gabby is still in a relationship with her unsuspecting boyfriend, Kevin.

When her boyfriend is soon to return to town, Gabby has a choice to make. Whether to stay with her boyfriend of 4-years or go with her neighbor, Travis.

Part 2

The year is February 2007. It is revealed in this chapter that Gabby, does, in fact, choose to start a relationship with Travis. They marry and have two girls, Christine and Lisa. It is also revealed that when driving from a David Copperfield show, that Travis gets in a car accident that puts Gabby in a coma. She has made a legal request that if she were in that position for longer than 3 months that Travis would let her go. He is left with the choice, after Gabby has been in a coma for three months, whether or not to do as she wishes. He decided for it, but, then, in the last minute goes against it, knowing that only himself, Gabby, and a retired lawyer who has relocated to another state knows of her true wishes regarding her medical care. Gabby, being a Physician's Assistant, had specific medical and personal knowledge of these issues and told her husband that she wanted to ensure that she would not be kept alive for more than 3 months by artificial means, going as far as to go to a lawyer to draw up the legal documents to ensure so. He hides the fact of Gabby's legal requests from others, and puts decides to continue with tube feedings and life sustaining care, despite his wife's explicit wishes, both in writing and verbally. As Gabby's vegetated body is moved into a nursing home, Travis and his daughters slowly fall back to normal.

Sometime later, Travis gets a call sometime later to come to the nursing home while he is at work. As he gets there, he presumes the worst, that his wife has possibly died. But it is quite the opposite. She has woken up from her coma. While she does have neurological deficits, she is able to communicate with her family and begins physical and rehabilitative therapy.

When they eventually bring Gabby home, Travis is fearful whenever he sees his wife asleep. Fearing that she might never wake up. For a great amount of time, he constantly does little things to Gabby as she sleeps, so that he knows that she is alive. One night, Travis strokes Gabby's arm and Gabby screams at him. Travis gets the message and decides that her action was so "Gabby-like." He is certain, here, that his wife is truly back.

Reviews

:"THE CHOICE has all of the elements that we have come to expect from Sparks, not the least of which is characters a little larger than life who have made some choices that were bolder than the ones we ourselves made." [cite web | title=Review: The Choice | last=Harding | first=Maggie | work=BookReporter.com | url=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/9780446579926.asp | date= | accessdate=2008-01-15 ] The novel is divided into two parts, and throughout the book the point of view switches between Gabby's and Travis's, although a bit more from Gabby's.

Footnotes