​推荐这部小说的原因很简单，因为评论说这是继《恋恋笔记本》后尼古拉斯最好的作品。如果说有一部电影每次看都会哭，我第一时间就会想起《恋恋笔记本》，谁能不爱帅到掉渣的瑞恩·高斯林？谁不会为电影照进现实结果没能善终的爱情哭泣？都说Nicholas Sparks是美国琼瑶，但我也愿意去看他写的小说。生活已经很苦涩了，为什么不读点美美的句子，看点甜甜的故事？

（P.S. 尼古拉斯的很多小说都被搬上了大银幕，这本也不例外。关注公众号“小狮子的英语笔记”，后台回复“最漫长的旅程”，就有电影和小说了。我已经很贴心了吧。

小说简介

在痛苦地结束了一段恋情以后，大学生索菲亚遇见了英雄救美的牛仔卢克。他似乎就是她一直以来等待的那个人。然而这个近乎完美的男人却似乎一直在隐瞒一个秘密……多年以来，孤寡老人艾勒都在怀念自己的亡妻露丝。在一场车祸里，濒死的他看到了亡妻的幻影，追忆起了两个人往昔的幸福生活……两对处于不同时空的恋人，是否能够理解爱的真正含义？命运又会怎样让他们生活的轨迹交织？在人生这段漫长的旅程里，真正重要的到底是什么呢？

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash.

☆ stranded（因缺乏交通工具、金钱等）滞留的，被困住的 例句：If the tide comes in, we'll be stranded on these rocks.如果涨潮的话，我们就会被困在这些礁石上。

☆ embankment 堤，堤岸，堤围；（路）堤 比如：a river/road/railway embankment 河堤／路堤／铁路路堤

Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together – how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families.

☆ blurred/blurry 模糊的；弄不清的；分不清的；看不清楚的 例句：My eyes were blurred with tears. 我已泪眼朦胧了。

☆ materialize ① 突然出现 例句：Suddenly a lorry appeared in front of her - it seemed to materialize out of nowhere.一辆卡车突然出现在她面前——好似是从地下冒出来的。 ② 实现，成为现实 She was promised a promotion but it never materialized.他们许诺会给她升职，但却从未兑现过。

③ recount 讲述；叙述；描述重数；重新清点  名词 重新计算；（尤指大选中）重新计算选票

Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

☆ cling to sth 坚持，保持，死死抱住（信念或希望）例句：She clings to the hope that her husband will come back to her. 她坚信丈夫一定会回到自己身边。

A few miles away, at a local rodeo, a Wake Forest College senior’s life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. 

Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death – loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy it first.

☆ loom large 显得突出；变得严重  例句：The issue of pay will loom large at this year's conference.工资问题将在今年的大会上凸显出来。

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

☆ yield 产生；出产；得出 Favourable weather yielded a good crop.好天气带来了好收成。僻义：（常指被迫）放弃，让出

谢谢你出现在我的生命里，让我想起这句话，“这一生能够遇到你，真的是太好了。”今天突然明白了，那年雨里，被你抱在怀里的狗狗是什么感觉。可是，这些天，这些年，你也在雨里呀。每天都要对自己说，一切都会好起来的。有爱就有希望，有希望就不要放弃。