Chronicles of love
Tulip Chowdhury dwells on pain
2 November 2007, 18:00 PM
Message in a Bottle
Nicholas Sparks
Warner Books
They stood facing each other, looking into each other's eyes. The eyes held still, they seemed to forget even to blink. They saw beyond the eyes, they recognised each other as the ideal soulmates meant to be together on the wheel of eternity. They had a vision of a long winding road on which they were walking, hand in hand, walking towards a bright light; the light of a new life.
They were Theresa and Garret. The book Message in a Bottle holds Theresa and Garret as the main characters. It is now a major motion picture to be seen and cherished. The author is Nicholas Sparks. The novel is about a unique love story that springs out of finding a message in a bottle washed up on the seashore. Theresa Osborne, divorced and disillusioned, is a woman in her late thirties. She finds a bottle with a message of love sealed inside on a beach in Cape Cod, USA. She had come for a quiet vacation from the demanding journalism job that she held. But the message inside the bottle brings a major change in her life. Theresa had been searching for a heart that would love her. As she reads the message that happens to be an emotional love letter of a husband to his dead wife, Theresa finds herself deeply moved by the writer of the letter. Her heart seeks to meet this passionate man. Theresa sets out to find the man who can love his wife so vehemently.
Garret Blake, writer of the message in the bottle, is a scuba diver living in North Carolina. As he meets Theresa he is mesmerised by the similarity of her looks and character with that of his dead wife, Catherine. On the other hand, true to her intuition, Theresa too is deeply captured by Garret's manliness and his quiet humble nature. At one point Garret feels attracted to her and yet he feels as if going near her would be betraying his dead wife. The two turn to each other like star crossed lovers. Gradually they move into a captivating relationship. There are glowing moments of tenderness and passion. The story captures love's unimaginable strength and yet shows us how fragile happiness can be. Just when things are falling into pieces for Garret and Theresa and readers start smiling in expectation of a happy ending, an unexpected turn of events melt hearts and have the readers wiping away tears.
Message in a Bottle is a tale of lonely souls crying out to each other. Theresa has this pain of losing her first love gnawing in her heart. Garret is lonely in his life after the death of his wife. By sheer chance when Theresa comes into his life he finds a new light to follow. Theresa is like a new dawn in his life. The essence of the book lies in finding love after grief for both Garret and Theresa. The story glows with moments of compassion and has the potential to delve deeply into the mysteries of eternal love. The story takes the reader by the hand and takes one into the grief stricken life of the main characters. When they fall in an everlasting, unconditional love the reader feels life sparkling from the heavens and there is joy for the two loving hearts.
The story holds twists and turns in the plot that do not fail to have the reader's curiosity aroused. Just when Garret has started trusting Theresa completely, a turn of events throws him far away from her. Theresa understands his dilemma and yet is helpless. She continues to love him believing that if their love is true love he will find his way back to her heart again. She remembers that the course of true love does not run smoothly. Her heart cries with the pain of separation and she waits for the day Garret will be back in her arms again.
he author of the book, Nicholas Sparks, exquisitely chronicles the human heart. He was inspired to write this book after the tragic death of his mother. The magic of the book lies in leaving the readers in the dark about the explosive ending that waits round the corner. The story holds love that is timeless and everlasting and can raise the human heart to the heights of glory and yet show that the hands of fate can have other plans. Here the reader remembers the saying, " What man proposes, God disposes". Message in a Bottle is a superb tale that shows how unpredictable human fate can be. The story comes with a tragic ending and yet the tragedy is totally unpredictable. The story's heart rendering emotions and the unexpected turn of events will not fail to bring tears to the eyes of the reader. It is one that will stay with you always.
Tulip Chowdhury writes fiction, composes poetry and teaches
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