1. MÓNICA DÍAZ
The Notebook is a 1996 romantic novel by American writer
The Notebook is a 1996 romantic novel by American writer
Nicholas Sparks, based on a true story. The novel was later adapted
Nicholas Sparks, based on a true story. The novel was later adapted
into a popular film of the same name in 2004.
into a popular film of the same name in 2004.

2. CHARACTERS:
Main Characters
Noah Calhoun
The narrator of the book and the main character, Noah is a good and kind man who
fell in love with Allie fourteen years before the novel opens. He has never forgotten
her and is overwhelmed with how much he still loves her when she returns to tell him
she is engaged.
Allison Nelson
A young woman who comes from a privileged family, she spends a wonderful
summer with Noah when they are young, but is forced to leave when her parents
disapprove of their relationship. She meets Lon and gets engaged to him, but
something in her makes her return to Noah to be sure she is not making a mistake.
Lon Hamilton
He is Allie’s fiancé, who fights for her in the end, but is too late. He has allowed his
career to disrupt any hope he may have had to win her.

3. CHARACTERS:
Minor Characters
Morris Goldman
A Jewish man who hires Noah for eight years in his scrap yard and leaves him part of
his assets as an inheritance, which then allows Noah to restore his house.
Gus
He is the black man who lives down the road from the house Noah has restored. He
becomes Noah’s only family until Allie returns.
Anne Nelson
She is Allie’s mother and had so disapproved of her being with Noah that she had
never delivered his letters to her daughter. She comes to warn them that Lon is on his
way to confront them both, and she finally gives Allie the letters.

4. PLOT:
The story begins with Noah, a man in his eighties, reading a
notebook to a woman in a nursing home, just as he does every day.
He tells her the following story:
“It is early October 1946. Noah is a 31-year-old man who returns
from World War II to his town of New Bern, North Carolina. He
finishes restoring an old house built in 1772, after his father's death.
He is alone (except for his dog Cem and his friend Gus) because
something happened in the past that prevents him from sharing his
life with someone.
Meanwhile Allie, 29, sees the restored house in the newspaper and
decides to pay him a visit. She tells Lon (her fiancé) that she wants
to visit some antique shops near the coast and that she needs a break
from planning the wedding.

5. They are meeting, again, after a 14-year separation, which followed their brief but
passionate summer romance when her family was visiting the town. They were
separated by class, as she was the daughter of a wealthy family, and he worked as a
laborer in a lumberyard then.
Seeing each other brings on a flood of memories and strong emotions in both of
them. They have dinner together and talk about their lives and the past. Allie learns
that Noah had written letters to her, every day for one year, 365 letters after their
breakup. She realizes that her mother must have intercepted his letters. They talk
about what could have happened between them without her mother's interference. At
the end of the night, Noah invites Allie to come back the next day and promises her a
surprise. She decides to see him again. During this time, her fiancé, Lon, tries to
reach her at the hotel. When Allie does not respond to his calls, he begins to worry.

6. The next day, Noah takes Allie on a canoe ride in a small lake where swans and
geese swim. She is enchanted. On their way back, they are caught in a storm and
end up soaked.
When they return to his house, they talk again about how important they were to
each other, and how their feelings have not changed. Noah and Allie share a kiss
and spend the night together.

7. The next morning Allie's mother comes to Noah´s house to warn them that Lon is
in town because he doesn’t trust Allie. She says to Allie that she should follow her
heart and she gives her the letters Noah’s letters. When her mother leaves, Allie is
torn and has a decision to make. She knows she loves Noah, but she does not want
to hurt Lon. Noah begs her to stay with him, but she decides to leave. She cries all
the way back to the hotel and starts reading the letters her mother gave her. At the
hotel, her fiancé, Lon, is waiting in the lobby”.

8. The man stops reading the story at this point, and tells the reader that he is reading
to his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer´s disease and does not recognize him. He
explains that he is also ill, battling a third cancer, and suffering heart disease, kidney
failure, and severe arthritis in his hands.
He resumes reading the story and describing their life together: her career as a
famous painter, their children, growing old together, and finally the diagnosis of
Alzheimer's. He had changed the names in the story to protect her, but he is Noah
and she is Allie. They walk together and Allie, although she does not recognize him,
says she might feel something for him.

9. That night they have dinner together. Referring to the story, she says that she thinks
Allie chose Noah. Recognizing her husband, she tells him that she loves him. They
embrace and talk, but after almost four hours, Allie fades and begins to panic and
hallucinate. She forgets who he is again. A week later, after he had a stroke and
recovered, Noah goes to Allie's room at night to see her. She remembered who he
was, despite the Alzheimer's, and they lay together for the night.

10. THE END