Message In A Bottle

by Nicholas Sparks

Hardcover, 2016

Status

Available

Call number

F Spa

Call number

F Spa

Barcode

3724

Publication

Grand Central Publishing (2016), 512 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:In this New York Times bestseller, a single mother sets out to find the North Carolina man who sent a message meant for someone else . . . and the journey may change her life forever. Divorced and disillusioned about relationships, Theresa Osborne is jogging when she finds a bottle on the beach. Inside is a letter of love and longing to "Catherine," signed simply "Garrett." Challenged by the mystery and pulled by emotions she doesn't fully understand, Theresa begins a search for this man that will change her life. What happens to her is unexpected, perhaps miraculous-an encounter that embraces all our hopes for finding someone special, for having a love that is timeless and everlasting.... Nicholas Sparks exquisitely chronicles the human heart. In his first bestselling novel, The Notebook, he created a testament to romantic love that touched readers around the world. Now in this New York Times bestseller, he renews our faith in destiny, in the ability of lovers to find each other no matter where, no matter when...… (more)

Original publication date

1998

User reviews

LibraryThing member elliepotten
When you read a Nicholas Sparks novel, you pretty much know what you're going to get. You'll be swept off your feet on a tide of romance; there will be moonlight and dinners for two and an impossibly sensitive and wonderful leading man; there will be a complication or two thrown in for good measure
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- and of course, you will read the last few pages through a veil of tears, trying fervently to stop yourself sobbing like a child at the bittersweet heartbreak of it all.

This book tells the story of divorced columnist Theresa, who gets an unexpected holiday surprise when she finds an exquisitely heartfelt love letter washed up on the beach in a corked bottle. Touched deeply by the devotion and loss radiating from the pages, Theresa publishes the letter in her column, expecting that to be an end to the matter. But when two more letters, equally heartbreaking, come to light, she knows she has to meet the mysterious writer, signed only 'Garrett', and sets out on a journey of discovery that will bring these two souls together in their loneliness and change their lives forever.

Although for me this novel doesn't have quite the re-read potential of 'The Notebook' or 'A Walk to Remember', it nevertheless delivered the winning Sparks formula as reliably as ever. I smiled, I cried, I reflected, and after a day's reading I finished the last page, sighed deeply, and went to bed a happy girl. What more could you ask for?
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Nicholas Sparks is known for sentimental stories and this is no exception. Two people brought together by the twists of fate and then cruelly pulled apart again. Not my favorite type of story and there is a lack of depth to the story that might make it worth reading. Mr. Sparks spends lots of time
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describing the way people look and how they move and even how they think - but it is all superficial. Garrett has this incredible love for his deceased wife who was his perfect soul mate and to whom he writes such heartfelt letters. It seemed more obsessed than romantic. And the relationship between Garrett and Theresa never gets beyond the "dating" stage - they don't get to figure out how to make a new life for themselves - the story just ends tragically and romantically in the midst of the metaphorical "honeymoon". Disappointing.
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LibraryThing member iamhis1
I couldn't put this book down. It wasn't the run of the mill love story.
LibraryThing member Katie_H
This is one of the most gut-wrenching books I have read in awhile. I had never read Nicolas Sparks before, and I DID know what I was getting into, but this novel was sad....stab-a-knife-in-your-heart-Bridges-of-Madison-County-sad! Message in a Bottle is the love story of Theresa, a divorced single
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mom who has given up on finding "the one," and Garrett, a seafaring widower who still pines for his lost love. While on a beach vacation, Theresa stumbles upon a bottle that has a note inside, a beautiful letter that Garrett wrote to his dead wife and threw into the sea. Feeling drawn to the writer, she decides to find this man who was able to love so deeply, and surely enough, she finds him and falls in love with him, and he with her. I will read more of Sparks's books, but only when I'm emotionally prepared -- I'd recommend this one to women who need a good looong cry, just be prepared with a FULL box of Kleenex.
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LibraryThing member leigh9024
In the novel Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Spakrs, a man named Garrett goes through pain of losing his wife to the love of another woman after her death. Thereasa finds his last message in a bottle to his deceased while running on a beach. She is inspired and moved by his writing and eventually
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finds him. As typical love stories go, they fall in love. Their love is special however, and that is what makes this book so emotional. Garrett has to deal with the guilt of being with another woman and Theresa has to learn new limits. Like many of Nicholas Sparks' novels, there is a twisted unexpected ending. The downfall of Garrett is unfair and thats what this novel symbolizes. Life isn't fair and there are ups and downs in life.
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LibraryThing member dbhutch
This is a wonderful story from Nicholas Sparks of how hurt and loss can find love and a happy ending.

Garrett has lost his wife whom he was so in love with and he write to her sending letters in bottles and one washes up on a beach where Thearesa is visiting and as a writer for a newspaper she uses
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her sources to find more of his letters after publishing his letter , she has fallen in love with him and the way he writes and when she meets him in person she falls in love with him.
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LibraryThing member mamagworld
What a wonderful, awe- inspiring story. I will say it is full of surprises. I saw the movie after I read the book and the movie doesn't even begin to measure up to the book. This is a very tender, romantic story, a must read for those who have a weakness for love stories (but make sure you have a
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box of kleenex nearby)!
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LibraryThing member kissmeimgone
While on vacation in Cape Cod, Theresa Osborne runs across what appears to be a bottle laying on a beach. Unexpectedly she finds what appears to be a love letter. She thinks nothing of it but as time goes on, she begins to find even more letters once she goes back to her hometown, working at her
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job as a columnist writer. Next thing she knows, she's flying to North Carolina, determined to find the man known as Garrett, who wrote all the beautiful letters so many people besides her found lying on beaches around the eastern coast in the past three years...A definite must-read, I could hardly put the book down! ^.^
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LibraryThing member AnnieHidalgo
I would love this book, if only it weren't so sad. Nicholas Sparks is one of the most romantic authors out there, except for that part at the end of each book where he rips your guts out. It's a fatal flaw. I would read more of his work, but I just don't think I can take it - the knowledge of
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certain and expected pain to come. Guess you have to decide whether it's worth it to you. Gone With the Wind is a great story with a sad ending too. I think it's a question of just deserts. Scarlett and Rhett, at some level, deserved their fate for being willfully stupid throughout so much of the book. Nicholas Sparks' characters are all very nice people who try hard. They never deserve what's coming to them.
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LibraryThing member hermit
This book focuses on two characters. One who had found true love and lost his wife and another who divorced had never known true love. A letter in a bottle found while jogging on a beach starts her journey to love. This book tries to show us the power of true love....and that it can happen more
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than once to the same person. The the message provides hope to the romantics; it is a sad telling.
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LibraryThing member size12isnotfat
This was formulaic and predictable, but still an enjoyable read. It's difficult to keep tears from falling, even though the ending is obvious from the first page.
LibraryThing member FolkeB
Message in a Bottle is a typical Nicholas Sparks work: simply written, emotionally relatable, and embarrassingly addicting. Its story centers around a single mother Theresa, who, while on vacation from North Carolina (yet another surprising choice of state by Sparks), finds a love letter that
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washed up in a bottle on the shores of Cape Cod. When Theresa realizes that the heart-wrenchingly beautiful letter is written to the author’s deceased wife and is just barely three weeks old, she makes it her goal to find this man with such an incredible capacity for love and to “see what happens.” While I appreciated the simple descriptions and dialogue involving phone conversations, dinner dates, and walks on the beach, I was never dying to find out how it would all end. I didn’t really believe the characters or story-line, possibly because the writing style was too simple and dialogue-filled, allowing me to breeze through the pages without fully processing the intended emotions. Overall, I appreciate the attempt but am left unimpressed. 2/5 stars.
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LibraryThing member veranaz22
Another Nicholas Sparks novel that does not disappoint! Following two characters who have once lost one that they love, that have been brought together by a "message in a bottle."
Not your typical love story, another hard to put down novel.
Four and a half out of five.
LibraryThing member kjflaherty
This was the first book by Nicholas Sparks that I read, so I hadn't become annoyed and sick of his formula for writing yet. I read this in high school in one lazy day and ended the book crying my eyes out. I got really into this book and told all my friends about it.

Unfortunately, Sparks uses the
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same formula for pretty much every book that followed this one...second chance of love that will probably go wrong. This being Spark's first book using this formula makes the story fresh and touching. Sparks was never able to live up to Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, or Walk to Remember...his only original stories in my opinion...after those 3 books, it's all downhill.
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LibraryThing member Mychiefthemama
Oh, how wonderfully sad and lovely.
LibraryThing member SarahCapri
A touching story of hope and a new love, that a tradegy in one's life doesn't have to mean the end forever, people will come into your life through simple fate. Excellent description, thoroughly enjoyed reading, another great book of Nicholas Sparks :)
LibraryThing member jlapac
I tried to read this again in an attempt to see if the book earned its place on the shelf. Book real estate is precious in my house. I couldn't get through the first few chapters. I liked Theresa, but don't like the idea of giving up on life because you are a single parent, have an ex-husband who
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cheated on you and don't have a boyfriend.
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LibraryThing member ShreeJan
What a touching story. It got me so emotional. The character of Garrett was so strong and emotional.The Ending was so sad. The story is so intense that I was crying for a while before I realized it was just a book. I guess Nicholas Sparks has a way with words.
LibraryThing member berthashaver
My favorite Nicholas Sparks' book yet.
LibraryThing member RamzArtso
The book was okay. Nicholas Sparks definitely has better works.
LibraryThing member cimonique
I really liked the premise of this book and especially the love Garrett had for his deceased wife. His letters to her were beautiful... The only thing I didn't like, unfortunately (and paramount to the story) was Garrett and Theresa together. I'm not sure why, but I never connected with them as a
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couple. Otherwise, Sparks wrote a lovely story.
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LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
Sparks is a great author, but this is not one of his better books. Read another book of his instead.
LibraryThing member JudithDCollins
Have read all Sparks books and love them all! This one was great, but sad...lots of crying but well written. Also loved the movie which have seen several times.

Shimmering with suspense and emotional intensity, Message in a Bottle takes readers on a hunt for the truth about a man and his memories,
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and about both the heartbreaking fragility and enormous strength of love. For those who cherished The Notebook and readers waiting to discover the magic of Nicholas Sparks’s storytelling, here is an achingly lovely novel of happenstance, desire, and the choices that matter most.
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LibraryThing member jbarr5
Message in a bottle by Nicholas Sparks
Theresa Osborn is a columnist out of Boston and her son Kevin is on vacation with his dad. Theresa is on the Cape enjoying her time by herself when she finds a bottle on the beach with a note inside.
Her editor thinks they should do a story about the
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letter...the research leads her to Wrightshead Beach off the coast and she does run into the person who wrote the letters. More had surfaced since the story was published in the paper.
The story also follows Garrett and his marina experience and his life with Katherine and their times together.
Loved hearing of the water, navigation by stars and surrounding areas and their journey together as what they do in actions are paralleled to what Katerhine and Garrett had done...
Untold secrets could keep them away from one another, will they reveal them?
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
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LibraryThing member br14elmo
Message in a Bottle my Nicolas Sparks was about a girl named Theresa. Theresa is a divorced woman with a 12 year old son. One weekend Theresa's ex husband decided to take their son David on a trip. Theresa decides to enjoy her free time and spend a weekend away with her friend Deana. One early
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morning, Theresa decided to go take a relaxing jog on the beach. She stopped and stood in the water copying a man standing near her. He looked like he was relaxed so she decided to do the same. When Theresa reopened her eyes, she noticed that the man was gone sop she decided to head back to the house. While walking back Theresa stumbled upon a bottle with something inside. She popped the top of the bottle and read the letter. It was a love letter written only three days ago. It sounded like the girl, Catherine, had left her spouse in some way. Garrett's, Catherine's spouse, words had sounded so sincere and after not having felt true love in a long time, Theresa had wanted to find out who this guy was and what was his story.

I found this book okay. It had a very intriguing start, but throughout the rest of the novel it did not spark my interest as much as I had hoped. I would recommend this book to anyone who has patience while reading.
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Rating

½ (1107 ratings; 3.6)

Pages

512
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