The Longest Ride

In 2013’s The Longest Ride, Nicholas Sparks, one of the most prolific and successful American romance novelists of the millennium, investigates how despite their differences, opposite personalities can find their way to commitment. In juxtaposing two relationships, one ending after more than 50 years and the other just beginning, this #1 New York Times bestselling novel explores how love can flourish, endure, and sustain even through the most difficult times. The novel is part Western (one couple features a champion bull rider who falls in love with an art historian), part traditional love story, part sweeping cultural biography of post-World War II America, and part investigation into the tonic power of art.

This guide uses the 2013 Grand Central paperback edition.

Plot Summary

The Longest Ride parallels two love stories, following three characters: 91-year-old Ira Levinson, a lonely widower who faces a grim cancer prognosis; Luke Collins, a 20-something champion bull rider who is attempting a return to competition after a devastating spill during a competition nearly killed him; and Sophia Danko, a senior majoring in art history at Wake Forest University.

In February 2011, Ira Levinson, driving alone at night, careens off an icy road in a remote stretch of rural North Carolina.