By Mike Mastromatteo | Catholic News Service.jpg)
(CNS photo/ courtesy Nicholas Sparks)
Nicholas Sparks
Best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks’ most recent book, “The Wish,” presents a plot common to many of his successful books.
Told through flashback and reflection over a 24-year timespan, the story follows the life of 40-ish New York City photographer Maggie Dawes, who as a teenager was sent to live with her Aunt Linda — a former nun — while she prepares to give birth to an unplanned and unexpected child.
While living with her aunt in a small remote North Carolina community, Maggie meets up with Bryce Trickett, a slightly older teenager who serves as her mentor and eventual first true love.
There are a couple of near implausible twists and turns in the story, but the basic narrative tension — a perfect love vanquished by fate and misfortune — is a well-worn formula in Sparks’ writing.
In a recent interview with Catholic News Service, Sparks discussed not only his approach to romance-focused storytelling, but also the Catholic influence that informs, even subtly, his body of work.
While more widely regarded as a creator of romance stories, Sparks is a Catholic writer who is not shy about inserting some of his faith influences into his work.
“I was born and raised Catholic (and I am) still Catholic,” Sparks said. “I have tried to make the best novels I can. And the faith element really depends on the particular story and its characters.”
With “The Wish,” the characters’ Catholic faith and belief in God is what drives much of the tension in the story. One of the strongest characters is Aunt Linda, the former nun, who quotes St. Therese of Lisieux in an attempt to explain to Maggie the complications of human interaction.
“Catholicism pretty much sets the entire story in motion,” Sparks told CNS. “The characters’ faith, belief in God, and the particular practices and doctrines associated with Catholicism are what led to this story.”
As of December, Sparks had written 23 novels, a memoire and a nonfiction work. His books have sold more than 105 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 50 different languages.
Although his novels might seem overly sentimental, Sparks believes in the power of the story to stir a sense of mystery, wonder and other worldliness in his readers. His books tend to idealize love relationships, but they also suggest that they are not without pain, suffering and the possibility of irreparable loss.
Sparks resides today in the coastal town of New Bern, North Carolina, an area that has become the setting for most of the author’s stories.
Sparks is at work on his next book, expected to be released this year. He is reluctant to reveal plot details in advance of a new book’s release, but he did say it would be set in North Carolina and would involve a complicated love story.
Whatever form the book takes, the action will almost certainly speak to the author’s take on the human condition and how fate, fortune, suffering, disappointment, faith, wisdom and joy play out in our lives.
