As the novel veers toward Paul's efforts to reconcile with his son, inspired as he has been by his chance-meeting with Adrienne, the novel takes on different proportions. For Paul and Adrienne, meeting one another would not just serve as a way to move into a new phase of life, but it would also become a catalyst to their respective dealings with the past. For Adrienne, this would come in the form of her consultations with her daughter and for Paul it would come in the initiation of a meaningful relationship with his son in adult life. The novel makes metaphorical reference to this intercession of the past and a renewed hope through the house in Rodanthe. The beach bungalow carries its own sense of a bright history, a faded middle age and an internal promise of refreshing affirmation, even in Adrienne's own observation. Here, the author describes "with the sun hovering among the clouds, the air had a luminescent quality, as though particles of light were suspended in the haze, and for a moment Adrienne felt she'd traveled back in time. But looking closer, she gradually began to notice changes that cosmetic work couldn't hide: decay at the corners of the windows, lines of rust along the roof, water stains near the gutters." (Sparks, 1-2)

The author captures well here a major theme of the novel. For Paul and Adrienne alike, there would be a sense of some youth, innocence and newness as having been lost, but simultaneously, a sense of this house yet still holding a scintilla of its mysteriousness and allure. The context proves a perfect one for the joining of two disaffected individuals with a need for one another. Especially for Adrienne, this would come as nothing short of the opportunity to step outside of herself. In the old Inn and in the company of this stranger, she would be given the shift in perspective that would allow her to carry on with life,...

The house and its company would help her to achieve the reinvention necessary to do so.
As Sparks describes, the mere experience of his company would be transformative, absent even of discussion on the love that would ultimately develop between them. For Adrienne, the intrigue surrounding their proximity to one another would alone be a significant force. As Sparks describes it, "though she'd known in advance that he would be the only guest this weekend, she hadn't realized how strange it would seem to be alone in the house with him. Or alone period. Sure, the kids had their own activities and she had a little time to herself now and then, but it was never for long. They could pop back in at any moment. Besides, they were family. It wasn't quite the same as the situation she was in now, and she couldn't escape the feeling that she was living someone else's life, one in which she wasn't exactly sure of the rules." (Sparks, 64)

This uncertainty would prove a catalyzing experience in her life, a preface to her recovery from her broken marriage. If there is a criticism which can be levied against the Sparks text, it may be its will for the tragic. To an extent, the melodramatic series of events which unfolds to the collective and unending misfortune of all characters in the narrative is both difficult to enjoy and bordering on the unlikely. However, the novel is redeemed by its sharp focus not on the proportion of tragedy, but on the redemptive power of love and the resilient nature of human beings. In both of these, Paul is able to make peace with himself before death, Adrienne is able to find personal rebirth and her daughter is given a parable of strength and renewal to carry with her as attempts to overcome her own tragedy.

Works Cited:

Sparks, N. (2002). Nights in Rodanthe. Warner Vision Books.