Book review: Difficult path to novel’s hopeful end

The plot of 'Remain' develops too slowly to really engage the reader, and is weighed down by dialogue that feels forced and unnatural

‘Remain’, a film version of which will be released this year, was written by Nicholas Sparks and M Night Shyamalan.

• Remain 
• Nicholas Sparks with M Night Shyamalan 
• Sphere, €18.99 

Bestselling author Nicholas Sparks collaborates with filmmaker M Night Shyamalan in what they describe as a supernatural love story.

Sparks is probably best known for his novel  The Notebook, and has written 24 others, and Shyamalan as director of  The Sixth Sense.

The central character in the novel is Tate Donovan, an architect in New York, who has just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital. 

He travels to Cape Cod, where he is going to design a summer home for his best friend Oscar and wife Lorena and their children.

Tate had been suffering from acute depression after his beloved sister Sylvia died. 

On her deathbed, she told him that she can see spirits who are still connected to the world, something he struggles to believe. 

She also told him: “You’re going to fall in love, Tate. And when you do, it’s going to change your life forever.”

Tate checks into an historic bed and breakfast in the fictional town of Heatherington, where shortly afterwards he meets Wren, an attractive young woman. 

There’s an immediate connection between them, but Tate soon realises that Wren is a spirit. She’s haunted by her murder, reliving it over and over.

As their relationship develops, Tate discovers that there are two manifestations of Wren, in daytime she is a delightful companion, at night she relives her horrific death. 

Tate is drawn into solving her murder, which happened two years before, to free her soul. Along the way he’s forced to question love, death, and reality.

Wren is the former owner of the bed and breakfast where he is staying. She is a woman whose life was shaped by a difficult upbringing and a number of toxic relationships. 

She has suffered loss, betrayal, and regrets for her unfulfilled dreams. After her murder, her spirit lingers, as it is trapped by trauma and unfinished business. 

Her interactions with Tate help him heal, and he helps her face the truth of her death.

The novel blends romance and the supernatural, but not always successfully. 

The plot develops too slowly to really engage the reader, and is weighed down by dialogue that feels forced and unnatural. 

It’s difficult to empathise with Tate, who is so fixated on his sister Sylvia’s death that her loss causes such an awful depression that he cannot function.

There is a very slow build-up explaining their relationship at the beginning of the novel, which one can understand. However, Tate comes across as almost totally self-obsessed. 

While he very quickly develops feelings for Wren, the only other person he seems to care about is Oscar, his friend, who is much more likeable and believable as a character than he is.

The novel is at its best towards its conclusion when the tension increases as we discover who is responsible for Wren’s murder. It ends on a hopeful note. 

The novel’s message appears to be to endure, to love, and to find some meaning in life, even when facing loss.

The film version of Remain is due out in October.