Ponder: The Return

I suspect many publishers try to time the release of an author's new book with the gift-giving season of Christmas. The Return by Nicholas Sparks ©2020 went a step further. Released in September 2020, The Return has a reversible cover that speaks to the holiday season. I bought it in the green door configuration the Thursday before Thanksgiving. With high anticipation, I read The Return the next day, the Friday before Thanksgiving, in one fell swoop. It was a quick read. I felt no urge to flip the book jacket to the red door with wreath image. Perhaps if I had waited until after Thanksgiving to read I might have gotten the urge.

But I was befuddled by what was the allure of two versions of the cover? So it can be re-gifted after having been read? Hmm... Does that thought reveal a practical mind or a jaded, cheap outlook? I am perfectly able to give someone a book I have read without feeling guilty that it has the same cover. Unless of course I have dripped melted chocolate on it or spotted it with my oily fingers from snacking on potato chips while immersing myself in the story. Or maybe having the option of displaying alternate book jackets creates work for the book store clerks who may have extra time one their hands since the number of customers is reduced due to social distancing. During the holiday season do they alternate the book spines red-green-red-green-red-green for a festive display? I can picture several masked clerks, six-feet apart, around a table of stacked copies of The Return, flipping each cover from neutral to seasonal and back again depending on which version garners more sales. The reversible book jacket  aspect of The Return is a "novel" idea and – oddly enough, probably because I cannot explain the reason why –  it was what I found most interesting about the book. The book contents itself, I found a bit dreary and maudlin, and yet I am a Nicholas Sparks fan having read all twenty-one of his books that preceded this one. I had even sought out and read his first book Wokini which is more philosophy than plot. I reviewed the atypical Wokini book in my post for 2/23/17.

The first character encountered in The Return is Trevor Benson, a Navy doctor injured in Afghanistan, struggling to manage his PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, while diversifying to a different career that will accommodate his sustained physical disabilities. From Trevor I learned a bit about CBT and DBT, cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies. Trevor inherits a house in the country from his grandfather who is an avid apiarist. From the grandfather, Trevor, and another character Natalie, I learned about bee keeping and the harvesting of honey. 

 

Trevor and Natalie develop a love interest that is thwarted for a reason yet to be discovered. By introducing Callie, a sullen, secretive, teenage who lives down the road from Trevor, the book gains unknowns that do urge the reader to read on, out of curiosity. 

I did learn some things from reading this book, but I did not bond with the characters. My lack of personal identification or involvement hindered my enjoyment. I fully realized going into this book that it was not a fluffy, frilly romance. There was no guarantee that all would end well. To quote Nicholas Sparks himself as he once, in an interview, made the distinction between love stories and romances

... Romance novels usually have happy endings while love stories are not bound by this requirement. Love stories usually end tragically or, at best, on a bittersweet note.

It was not the ending that disappointed. I was not invested enough, that the outcome mattered to me. I look forward to the twist in each of Sparks' novels. Sparks' big reveal, typically in the last third or so of his books, fell flat with me in The Return. I give this book 2 stars, which in my system translates to Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it. What were those redeeming features?

• I now have a working knowledge of bee keeping
• PTSD is not as foreign to me
• I kept up my perfect streak of reading all Nicolas Sparks' books.
• I upped my count of books read in 2020 to my goal of 26
• I enjoyed lounging for one full day, mind free of the disgusting political tactics being discussed incessantly on TV
• I went back and reread my post on Wokini, which surprisingly reminded me of some rewarding tips for outlook and attitude, applicable especially during 2020