Safe Haven by Nicholas
Sparks is the story of Katie, an abused wife who changes her identity and flees
her husband from Boston to the small town of Southport. Katie makes a low-key living as a waitress,
but despite her efforts to remain aloof from the townsfolk, her petite beauty,
shy manner and mysterious background soon has all of Southport interested. A series of events also soon has Katie
involved in two reluctant relationships; one with her mysterious neighbour Jo,
and one with kind, single father Alex.
Despite her reservations, Katie finds herself settling in and calling
Southport home.
 |
| Josh Duhamel (Alex) and Julianne Hough (Katie) on the movie set of Safe Haven |
Alex knows that Katie wants
to be left to her own devices, but something about the wounded look that
sometimes comes into her eyes makes it impossible for him to keep his
distance. When his kids become fond of
Katie they start spending more time together, and slowly but surely the real
Katie emerges; a kind, fun-loving, sweet woman who wants nothing more than to
love and be loved. A happy future might
be in the cards for them after all.
 |
| Kristen, Alex and Katie |
But Katie left behind a
vengeful alcoholic husband who will do anything to bring her back to the prison
she left behind. With a secret stash of
money steadily growing, ready to disappear to the next town at the drop of a
hat should Kevin track her down, can Katie truly give her heart to Alex knowing
she can never marry him, and that she can definitely not promise forever? Can she build a life with him and his kids,
knowing that she would have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life?
 |
| David Lyons as Kevin |
At first I found it a tad
unrealistic that Katie would fall for another man so hard only about four
months after leaving an abusive bully of a husband who knocked her around for
four years. Realistically I just thought
that it would take a lot longer for an abused woman to open her heart up to
another man after years of abuse from a man she initially trusted; but the more
I read and the more I thought about it, I believe this part of the story is a
testament to Katie’s character. It goes
to show just how sweet and trusting she is, and how desperate she is for love
and affection. I think it also says a
lot about Alex that Katie immediately realises he’s a good, solid man she can
trust and depend on.
 |
| Alex and Katie |
I found both Katie and Alex
to be charming characters, and I enjoyed sharing this journey with them. Nicholas Sparks did an amazing job of
describing the life of an abused wife – it always amazes me how good he is at
writing female characters. Usually I
can’t relate to female characters created by male authors, because there is
just so much about being a woman that they miss.
Sparks goes through a lot of trouble to ensure his female characters are
realistic and relatable; and as for the male characters, he never fails to give
us the perfect hero to save the day.
Safe Haven is a sweet book
about new beginnings, and I look forward to seeing the film version starring
Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough to be released February 2013. I can perfectly picture the two of them in
these roles – great casting!
All photos in this post were taken during filming and are available on the Safe Haven Movie page on Facebook.
Product information:
Title: Safe Haven
ISBN: 9780751542998
ISBN-13: 9780751542998
Product information:
Title: Safe Haven
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Year: 2010
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