At First Sight
Description
There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he’d never do: he’d never leave New York City; never give his heart away after barely surviving one failed marriage; and never become a parent. Now Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, engaged to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the start of their family. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, a mysterious and disturbing e-mail sets off a chain of events that will change the course of this young couple’s relationship. How well do we really know the ones we love? How do we handle the inevitable doubts, fears concerning parenthood, and stumbling blocks that are sometimes placed in our way? Continuing the story of the young couple introduced in Sparks’s bestselling True Believer, this novel captures all the heartbreak, tension, romance and surprises of those who are newly wed. An astonishing tale about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child, At First Sight is about endings that bring new beginnings . . . tragedies that lead to unexpected joy . . . and, most of all, the magic of everlasting love.
Did You Know
At First Sight is not inspired by any of Nicholas's family members, but the protagonist, Lexie Darnell, is named after one of Nicholas's twin daughters?
Boone Creek -- the setting for the novel -- is a fictitious town in North Carolina, modeled after Pamlico County?
At First Sight was one of two books that Nicholas wrote in a year? (The second is True Believer, the prequel to At First Sight.)
Description
There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he’d never do: he’d never leave New York City; never give his heart away after barely surviving one failed marriage; and never become a parent. Now Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, engaged to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the start of their family. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, a mysterious and disturbing e-mail sets off a chain of events that will change the course of this young couple’s relationship. How well do we really know the ones we love? How do we handle the inevitable doubts, fears concerning parenthood, and stumbling blocks that are sometimes placed in our way? Continuing the story of the young couple introduced in Sparks’s bestselling True Believer, this novel captures all the heartbreak, tension, romance and surprises of those who are newly wed. An astonishing tale about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child, At First Sight is about endings that bring new beginnings . . . tragedies that lead to unexpected joy . . . and, most of all, the magic of everlasting love.
Film/TV Sales
Film rights sold to Stone Village Pictures.
Background Info
The idea for this book arrived in a burst of inspiration. This seldom happens, by the way. For me, anyway. Usually, the creative process seems less creative and inspiration-based than tedious. As a general rule, I'll go through hundreds, if not thousands of ideas, before I'm ready to start writing. I come up with a general theme, then try to come up with the best plot I can to explore that theme, then create characters who fit both the theme and the plot. For the most part, I simply sit at my desk and ask myself, "What if?. . ." and try out the various answers. As in, "What if . . . I want to use the theme love and mystery. Okay, what's the mystery? Is someone missing? Who? Or is something missing? Or is the mystery about an event? Hmmm. . . ." I might lean back in my chair, tap my finger against my jaw and then come up with possible answers. After that, I ask, "Then what?" Little by little, I get closer and closer to the story. Usually, this process takes anywhere from one to two months.
Not so with At First Sight. The idea for this story came on a cloudy afternoon in late January, when I was bringing my son back from the track. I'd turned in the first draft of True Believer, and my editor had suggested that I rewrite the ending. (Essentially, she wanted a more linear ending; the original ending jumped around, since it covers a few years). I knew why she wanted a linear ending . . . but I couldn't figure out a way to do it while still retaining the suspense and tension that I felt the novel needed. I went round and round a hundred times, trying and failing to work it out in my mind. Needless to say, due to the difficulties in writing True Believer, I was already massively behind on my deadline. That novel was due to be published in April, and was going to press in February. No matter what the solution was, I had to figure it out quick.
At the same time, I was supposed to have a second novel published in 2005. Technically, that second was due now (like I said, I was really far behind), and I hadn't even begun to think of what the story might be.
All these thoughts were going through my head, the pressure was building. While stopped at a traffic light, I turned to my son and said, "You know what I should do? I should take the original ending of True Believer and expand that into a new novel. That's the only way to make the ending linear, to give it the pages it deserves but still keep the tension that the story needs."
"So do it," my thirteen year old said with a shrug.
"I don't know if I can," I said, but as we continued our drive home, I found myself growing more and more excited with the idea. This was the answer not only to all my problems -- including coming up with an idea for the next novel -- but more importantly, it was something I'd never done before. I'd never written a prequel and sequel, and it's important to me as a writer to continually come up with new ways to surprise the reader. As the number of novels I've written has increased, surprises are more and more difficult to pull off. It would be easy to get lazy, to write the same story over and over again as most authors do, but that's not something I think my readers deserve.
As soon as I got home, I called my agent. The idea was so shocking -- it required, after all, a different ending to True Believer and a whole new way of thinking about the story -- that it took her a moment to process the idea. But as I explained my reasoning -- I kept thinking I was missing something, but the more I talked, the more convinced I became -- my agent first warmed to the idea, and then, as it set in, loved the idea. The same thing happened with my editor.
Taken together, I think True Believer and At First Sight make for a wonderful story. Of course, they can be read as individual novels or even in the opposite order, but to get the full impact, my own belief is that you should read both and in the order they were written.
Notes on Writing the Book
I started the novel in the last week of February 2005, and completed the first draft in early June. In between, I went on a three week U.S. book tour, spent another nine days on a book tour in England and Ireland, took my family to Disneyworld for five days, and spent three days in New York. Keep in mind that after each of those trips, it usually takes two or three days to catch up in my office, and it's important to my wife (and me) that I spend the weekends with my family. While I made a promise to myself after my trip around the world (that I took with my brother Micah and that formed the basis for my memior, Three Weeks With My Brother) that I would slow down, I had to put that promise aside to finish the novel. It was a pressure-packed three months.
Fortunately, as far as the writing went, I had a couple of things going for me. First, I knew the characters and the setting, I knew the character's voices and the way they talked, I had all the relationships and back-stories worked out and I already had part of the ending completed (all wonderful left-overs from True Believer). Yet, because of my unusually tight deadline, I knew I wouldn't have time to make mistakes, so I spent the first week writing a detailed, forty-page outline. I wanted to know exactly what was happening chapter by chapter, and within the chapters as well. It did make the writing go much more smoothly.
Strange, but as difficult as True Believer was to write, the writing of At First Sight proceeded relatively smoothly. I worked four to five days a week, putting out 8,000-10,000 words or so. Still, it was difficult to get into a rhythm, since I was forced to travel so much. I would work for two weeks, travel for three weeks, work for a week, travel for a week, work for two weeks, travel for a week. . . work for three days, leave for three days. . . despite the steady progress, I found myself wishing that I could simply strap myself into my chair so I could finish the novel in one fell swoop.
I suppose that this novel would fall into the easy-to-write or relatively easy-to-write category. While I found it difficult to escape the pressure of the ever-encroaching deadline, the novel was completed in about ten weeks (spread out over four months). Still, because I'd taken no break between True Believer and At First Sight, I had more than a couple of days where I threw myself an old-fashioned temper tantrum. I'll be honest; I don't like deadlines, even when they're self-imposed. Still, I was thrilled with the final product.
The editing on the novel was simple: the first draft came in relatively close to the final product. As is typical, we ended up cutting about 15% of the novel. I'm more than happy to cut, since it helps to keep the pages turning, and in the end, it's the mark of efficient writing. The most challenging part of the editing process was the timeline: the novel covers a ten month period, so I had to note every instance in the novel where I wrote something like, "a week later," or "as June approached." Because of the outline, it was easier to make it accurate.
On an, "I betcha didn't know this!" note: I suppose I should admit that I have a tendency to use some words more than others. I think all writers are this way, since everyone is a creature of habit and usually it's not a problem as long as you fix them before the final version is published. Since I know what words I tend to overuse (no, I won't tell you which ones they are), I simply run a computer search for them, then delete them wherever I can. In this book, there were fourteen words I focused on -- and wow, I really overused a couple!. I made the necessary deletions, and I'm hopeful that you won't be able to figure out what the original words were.
Reviews
Have plenty of tissues on hand.
- Publishers Weekly
With his trademark sensitivity, Sparks delves into the nitty-gritty of relationships, and considers the sacrifices that each partner has to make in order to have a successful marriage. And readers beware: this is multiple-hankie romance.
-- Booklist
FAQ
Why did Nicholas choose for Lexie to die?
There are three, and only three, possible endings for a novel in my genre: happy endings, bittersweet, or tragic endings. At the same time, one of the key elements o ...
Did you panic like Jeremy when it was time to head to the hospital?
No, I was a bit more calm. I did, however, take a shower (a quick one), but by the time I finished, my wife was having another contraction and was speaking to a friend on the phone. Let's just say that sweeter and kinder things have been said about me.
Where did you get the idea for the emails?
I can't remember specifically, but I can say that it was an idea that I'd slowly been working toward all along. I knew I wanted to add some tension to the relationship, and Jeremy's situation (as described in True Believer) seemed the perfect w ...
How similar was Lexie's pregnancy to your wife's?
It was somewhat similar to all of them. I took bits and pieces from Cat's pregnancies and molded them into something Lexie could call her own.
Was this novel inspired by anyone in your family?
No, not really. Lexie's character, and her pregnancy, are modeled after my wife. Jeremy, in some ways, resembles my brother; in other ways, he's similar to me. But there was no specific family member who inspired the story.
Jeremy is hastily packing, and one of the things he packs is a Dop kit. What is it?
A shaving kit. It's what I've always called it.
Have you sold the film rights?
Yes. Rights have been sold for both True Believer and At First Sight.
Book Club/Discussion Questions
1. This novel picks up a few weeks after True Believer left off, where we learn that Jeremy and Lexie are engaged. By this point, Jeremy and Lexie have known each other less than a month. How did Lexie and Jeremy know so quickly? What role, if any, did her pregnancy play into the decision? Do you know any couples personally who got engaged so quickly? How long did it take you to realize that you wanted to marry your spouse? In his biography, Nicholas says that he told Cathy that they would get married one day, within 24 hours of meeting her. She laughed, but they've been married since 1989.
Did this factor into the author's decision to open the novel in this manner?
2. Alvin thinks Jeremy is making a mistake and feels free to tell him so. If you were Jeremy's friend, what would you have said? Lexie is nervous about meeting Jeremy's family, and though they were referenced quite a bit in both True Believer and At First Sight, they are minor characters, in that the reader never even learns the names of Jeremy's parents. Why did the author do this? Should the characters have been developed further? Why or why not?
3. The story largely takes place during the forty week period while Lexie is pregnant, which always changes a relationship. Yet, during this time, Jeremy and Lexie are still getting to know each other. How does the pregnancy affect the development of the relationship? Are the developments more positive or negative? At the same time, Jeremy and Lexie are remodeling a house, and Jeremy struggles with writer's block. It seems, to Jeremy anyway, that when it rains it pours. Describe how these challenges affect Jeremy? How do they affect Lexie?
4. Mayor Gherkin plays a lesser role in this novel than in True Believer. The
town, too, plays a lesser role. Doris, Jed, Rachel and Alvin, on the other hand, play more prominent roles in At First Sight. Who was the most important of the minor characters? Who was the least important? Why did the author choose to "switch" the prominence of the characters in the sequel?
5. Describe the symbolism of the mysterious lights in the cemetery. In what ways does this symbolism portrayed in the relationship between Lexie and Jeremy?
6. Working late one night, Jeremy receives an e-mail that calls into question whether the child is actually his. At first he dismisses it; later, however, he begins to wonder how well he really knows Lexie. Should Jeremy have told Lexie about the e-mail right away? Would he have believed her? How might the relationship have played out differently had Jeremy been less secretive? In what ways was Lexie secretive? Who was more at fault when the problems in their relationship began to arise?
7. After Jeremy and Lexie are married, Jeremy takes a walk on the beach, where he spies some wild horses grazing on the dunes. This paragraph is one of the author's favorite passages in the novel. Were there any passages that you found particularly insightful, well-written or interesting?
8. Doris tells Lexie that a happy marriage means meeting your spouse's needs, while they do the same for you. If your spouse could meet only one of your needs, what would it be? What would your spouse's be? (The Ten Needs, from the book, His Needs, Her Needs, are: Communication, Affection, Honesty, Family commitment, Financial Support, Sex, Recreational companionship, domestic support, physical attractiveness, and admiration)
9. Toward the end of the novel, just as Lexie and Jeremy are settling into life as a married couple, new tension is suddenly added to the relationship. How would you react had this happened in your marriage?
10. This is the first of Nicholas's novels in which life after the characters fell in love is described in detail. It's also the first novel in which the characters were in love when the book began. In what other ways was this novel different than the author's previous work? Can this novel still be described as a love story? Why or why not?
Foreign Sales
- Albania / Bota
- Arabic / Jarir Publishing
- Finland / WSOY
- France / Laffont
- Germany / Heyne
- Hungary / General Press
- Israel / Modan
- Italy / Sperling & Kupfer
- Latvia / Kontinents
- Lithuania / Alma Littera
- Netherlands / The House of Books
- Norway / Damm
- Poland / Albatros
- Portugal / Presenca
- Romania / RAO
- Russia / AST
- Serbian / Laguna
- Spain / Roca
- Sweden / Wahlstrom & Widstrand
- Thailand / Matichon
- Turkey / Artemis
- UK / Time Warner
Published: 2006