n the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole Ifell deeply in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for each other seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths. Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for a funeral. Neither has lived the life they imagined…and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers soon realize that everything they thought they knew—about themselves and the dreams they held dear—was not as it seemed. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past? With over 95 million copies of his books sold, is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. His novels include twelve #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all his books, including Three Weeks with My Brother, the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than fifty languages. Nine of Nicholas Sparks’s novels—The Best of Me, , , , , , , , and Message in a Bottle—were also adapted into major motion pictures. In 2011, he founded the Nicholas Sparks Foundation to inspire and transform students’ lives though education, curriculum development, and life-changing international experiences. To learn more, go to www.NicholasSparksFoundation.org. The author lives in North Carolina with his wife and family. You can visit him at www.NicholasSparks.com. Narrating since 1996, SEAN PRATT has recorded over 550 audiobooks in almost every genre and is a six-time winner of AudioFile Magazine’s Earphones Award and two-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. RELATIVITY MEDIA PRESENTS A RELATIVITY MEDIA DI NOVI PICTURES NICHOLAS SPARKS PRODUCTION A MICHAEL HOFFMAN FILM “THE BEST OF ME”MICHELLE MONAGHAN JAMES MARSDEN LUKE BRACEY LIANA LIBERATO CAROLINE GOODALL AND GERALD MCRANEY CASTING COSTUMES MUSIC MUSIC EDITED PRODUCTION BY RONNA KRESS, CSA BY RUTH E. CARTER SUPERVISOR BOB BOWEN BY AARON ZIGMAN BY MATT CHEESE,´ ACE DESIGNER PATRIZIA VON BRANDENSTEIN DIRECTOR OF CO- EXECUTIVE PHOTOGRAPHER OLIVER STAPLETON, BSC PRODUCERS KENNETH HALSBAND D. SCOTT LUMPKIN PRODUCERS TUCKER TOOLEY ROBBIE BRENNER RON BURKLE JASON COLBECK PRODUCED BASED UPON THE BY DENISE DI NOVI ALISON GREENSPAN NICHOLAS SPARKS RYAN KAVANAUGH THERESA PARK NOVEL BY NICHOLAS SPARKS SCREENPLAY DIRECTED BY AND AND BY J. MILLS GOODLOE WILL FETTERSArtwork © 2014 Relativity Media.MICHAEL All Rights Reserved. HOFFMAN MICHAEL HOFFMAN

Running Time: Approx. 9.5 Hours • Unabridged 햢 2011 by Nicholas Sparks. All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the duplicating, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this audiobook without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. 햯 2011 by Hachette Audio. All rights reserved. 햢 2014 by Hachette Audio (packaging elements only excluding movie artwork). A division of Hachette Book Group, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017. UNABRIDGED www.HachetteAudio.com 30902

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