content: Some women I work with recommended this book and said it was sure to make me cry. I read it with amazement that anyone would find this thin, heavily cliched writing worth crying over. It almost makes me cry to think that this bland mush is so popular. I was hoping for a story with character development, one that would demonstrate how love develops and lasts. Instead the writer keeps telling the reader how much Noah and Allie love each other without making the characters interesting or compelling in any way. They fall in love at first sight for some mystical reason, and keep their love strong (apparently without any conficlts for 49 years except Allie's final illness). The writer really cheated here. Instad of writing dialog that showed the depth of character of his protagonists, he fell back on hackneyed expressions that were not even well written. If you are easily amused and have time on your hands that you want to kill, read this book.