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Book Summary and Reviews of Remain by Nicholas Sparks

Remain by Nicholas Sparks

Remain

A Novel

by Nicholas Sparks

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2025, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A one-of-a-kind novel that grapples with the supernatural mysteries of life, death, and human connection—an unprecedented collaboration between the globally bestselling author of love stories like The Notebook and the renowned writer and director of blockbuster thrillers like The Sixth Sense.

When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend's summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister. Sylvia's deathbed revelation—that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world, a gift that runs in their family—sits uneasily with Tate, who struggles to believe in more than what reason can explain. But when he takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world.

Tate and Wren find themselves forging an immediate connection, one that neither has ever experienced before. But Tate gradually discovers that below the surface of Wren's idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy, and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom. Tate realizes that in order to free Wren from an increasingly desperate fate, he will need to unearth the truth about her past before time runs out ... a quest that will make him doubt whether we can ever believe the stories we tell about ourselves, and the laws that govern our existence. Love—while transformative—can sometimes be frightening.

A story about the power of transcendent emotion,Remain asks us all: Can love set us free not only from our greatest sorrows, but even from the boundaries of life and death?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The blending of bestselling novelist Sparks' signature romance with renowned film director Shyamalan's supernatural touches is brilliant...This mysterious and moving love story will attract legions of eager readers." —Booklist (starred review)

"Bestseller Sparks and filmmaker Shyamalan combine their talents to create a paranormal love story that makes suspension of disbelief easy through thoughtful characterization...The mystery chugs along nicely but the romance is the stronger plot, and the authors deserve credit for making the relationship between the living and the dead moving. Fans of both authors will not be disappointed." —Publishers Weekly

This information about Remain was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Nicholas Sparks Author Biography

Nicholas Sparks is the author of twenty-three books, all of which have been New York Times bestsellers. His books have been published across more than fifty languages with over 150 million copies sold worldwide, and eleven have been adapted into films. He is also the founder of the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a nonprofit committed to improving cultural and international understanding through global education experiences. He lives in North Carolina.

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Other books by Nicholas Sparks at BookBrowse
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