How do you account for the success of the novel? What do you think its overriding appeal is?

It's never easy to pinpoint the reasons for a book's success. In the case of The Notebook, I think the most obvious reason is that the story touched people in a deeply personal way. It seems that nearly everyone I spoke with about the novel knew a "Noah and Allie" in their own life. As people made this connection, the book became a so-called "word-of-mouth" success, with those who enjoyed it recommending it to others. In the end, any book that sells well needs to have this sort of support from readers.

On a more practical level, the novel's short length was appealing to many people. Nowadays, we all seem to have less time to read and The Notebook probably owes much of its success to the fact that people could finish it in one or two sittings. I think that readers also appreciate that the novel didn't include foul language and its love scene was tasteful and mild compared to what's found in many other novels. These factors made people feel comfortable about recommending it to others.

Finally, I can't ignore the fact that the publisher did an outstanding job with the novel. It was well promoted, it had a beautiful cover, and it was enthusiastically supported by the sales representatives. In addition, I was sent on a fifty+ city tour (unusually large, by the way) and that also helped to get the word out.