Nicholas Sparks’s The Choice (2007) is a traditional romance novel that delves into the complexities of love, choices, and life’s unforeseen events. The story unfolds in the picturesque coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina, where Travis Parker, an easygoing bachelor, encounters a life-changing series of events when Gabby Holland, a determined medical student, becomes his neighbor. The novel examines the themes of Coincidence Versus Destiny, Choices and Their Consequences, and Challenges to Romantic Relationships.

Sparks is a New York Times best-selling American romance author. He has written 23 novels and is known for works such as The Notebook (1996), Message in a Bottle (1999), The Last Song (2009), and Dear John (2006). Like many of his other novels, The Choice was adapted into a film. Released in 2016, it was directed by Ross Katz and featured Benjamin Walker as Travis and Teresa Palmer as Gabby.

This guide references the e-book published by Grand Central Publishing in September 2007.

Content Warning: The guide refers to end-of-life care and physical and emotional trauma present in the source text.

Plot Summary

The novel is divided into two parts, which are set in 1996 and 2007, respectively. It is set in Beaufort, North Carolina, is written in the third-person limited past tense, and alternates between Travis’s and Gabby’s points of view. The Prologue begins with the male protagonist, Travis Parker, a successful 43-year-old veterinarian, reminiscing about the tales his father would tell him when he was a child and how he would always ask that each story be “the best one ever” (1). He considers how his life up to the present has actually been the best story ever but wonders what will happen next, hinting at some dark event now plaguing him.

Travis parks his car at the hospital where his wife has worked for the last 10 years and heads inside with a bouquet of flowers, apparently an apology for an argument they had three months prior—the last time the two spoke.

In Part 1, the story flashes back to May of 1996 when Travis was 32 and living and working happily in his hometown of Beaufort, North Carolina, spending time with his childhood friends Matt, Joe, and Laird. Although single while his friends are married, Travis has no regrets about bachelorhood, enjoying life with his friends and their families. The group often wonders if Travis has commitment issues, but he feels he simply hasn’t met the right person yet.

Into this idyllic life steps Gabby Holland, a physician’s assistant who has moved to the town to be closer to her boyfriend, Kevin, and who is now living right next door to Travis. Unfortunately, Travis’s first introduction to Gabby is when she marches over to his house and accuses his dog, Moby, of getting her dog, Molly, pregnant. Gabby already has an unflattering view of Travis: She thinks he’s inconsiderate after she heard his music playing loudly, and she got knocked down by his dog. She lets loose with a rant about Travis’s dog and his irresponsible behavior. Travis lets Gabby have her say and then suggests she take Molly to the local veterinarian. A disgruntled Gabby leaves, and Stephanie, Travis’s younger sister who had been listening from the house, is quick to suggest that her big brother finds the new neighbor attractive.

Gabby brings Molly to the veterinary clinic, which turns out to be run by Travis and his father, who is also a veterinarian. Gabby is taken aback to learn that the neighbor she initially pegged as an irresponsible loafer is actually a well-respected vet. She is even more chagrined when she learns that Moby was neutered two years prior. Feeling rather ashamed, Gabby can only apologize for her behavior and marvel at Travis’s forgiving nature. She also can’t help but notice that Travis is attractive. She leaves, and Travis watches her go, amused by the whole event.

As Travis and Gabby spend more time together, they quickly fall in love. By the end of Part 1, true love has conquered their resistances, and Travis and Gabby have become lovers.

In Part 2, the story returns to February of 2007 as Travis comes out of his memories to deal with the present situation. Travis’s inner thoughts reveal that he and Gabby eventually married and had two little girls, Lisa (age six) and Christine (age eight). His memories make it clear they lived a nearly perfect life until a car accident three months prior sent Gabby into a coma. Travis’s cryptic reference to the difficult decision he must make finally becomes clear.

Years before, Travis and Gabby made living wills insisting they not be kept on life support after a given amount of time. That time has passed, and now Travis is faced with the worst decision of his life: honor Gabby’s wishes or use the fact that the only ones who know about the will are Gabby, Stephanie, an absentee lawyer, and himself to put her in a long-term care facility with the hope she will awaken. In the end, he cannot bring himself to take her off life support and has her transferred to assisted care.

The Epilogue takes place four months later in June 2007. Having moved Gabby into a nursing facility, Travis has managed to resume some normalcy in his daily life for the sake of his daughters, establishing routines and going back to work part-time. One day, he receives the shocking news that Gabby is awake. Rushing to the hospital, Travis wrestles with fears of brain damage and relapse, but to his joy, he finds Gabby awake and well. Once back home, it takes time for everyone to adjust to Gabby’s presence, but eventually Travis accepts that his true love and happy life have, indeed, returned.