The Last Song

The Last Song (2009) is a contemporary coming-of-age romance novel by American author Nicholas Sparks, a celebrated writer of best-selling works such as The Notebook and A Walk to Remember that are often set in coastal North Carolina. Sparks developed the novel’s story alongside the screenplay for its 2010 film adaptation. The plot centers on a rebellious teenage girl forced to spend the summer with her estranged father, leading her to reconnect with her passion for music, experience first love, and uncover family secrets. The narrative explores themes including The Healing Power of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, The Corrosive Nature of Secrets and the Liberation of Truth, and Art as a Medium for Emotional Expression and Connection.

This guide refers to the 2023 Grand Central Publishing trade paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, child death, emotional abuse, and substance use.

Plot Summary

The story opens with 18-year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller at her father Steve’s beach house in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, reflecting on the events of the previous summer. Prompted by her mother, Kim, Ronnie begins to recount her story, starting with a newspaper article about a fire that destroyed the local church on New Year’s Eve.

Six months earlier, a rebellious 17-year-old Ronnie is forced by Kim to spend the summer in Wrightsville Beach with her estranged father and her 10-year-old brother, Jonah. Ronnie, a former piano prodigy taught by Steve, resents him for having an affair and leaving the family three years prior and has since quit playing. Upon arriving at Steve’s modest beach bungalow, Ronnie is openly hostile, while Jonah is excited to reconnect. Steve, a former Juilliard professor and concert pianist, is filled with regret over his past and hopes to mend his relationship with his children. After Kim leaves, Ronnie immediately informs Steve that she has no intention of playing the piano for him or reconnecting.

Feeling frustrated by the reunion, Ronnie explores the local carnival and pier, where she meets Blaze, a troubled local girl. Through Blaze, she is introduced to a dangerous group that includes Blaze’s manipulative boyfriend, Marcus, and his friends Teddy and Lance. During a beach volleyball game, Ronnie has a brief, awkward encounter with Will Blakelee, a popular local athlete. Meanwhile, Steve tries to bond with his children, involving an excited Jonah in a project to build a new stained-glass window for the church that burned down. Ronnie remains distant, and after she stays out late with Marcus’s group, Steve asks a local police officer, Pete Johnson, to bring her home. Furious at this intervention, Ronnie’s anger toward her father intensifies with frequent verbal blowouts.

Will is haunted by the belief that his best friend, Scott, accidentally started the church fire. He and Scott were setting off bottle rockets on the beach that night, and he knows that Marcus and his group were also present. Will, who has recently broken up with his girlfriend, Ashley, finds himself drawn to Ronnie’s authenticity. Their paths cross again when Will, a volunteer for the local aquarium, is sent to protect a loggerhead sea turtle nest discovered behind Steve’s house. As they spend nights guarding the nest from predators and talking, a romance blossoms between them.

Ronnie’s association with Blaze leads to serious trouble when Blaze, motivated by jealousy over Marcus’s interest in Ronnie, frames her for shoplifting valuable records from a music store. Ronnie is arrested for felony shoplifting, but Steve stands by her, believing in her innocence because Ronnie insists that she did not do it. The incident leaves her feeling even more isolated.

As Ronnie and Will’s relationship deepens, she meets his wealthy family. His father, Tom, is welcoming, but his mother, Susan, is openly disapproving. Ronnie feels out of place in their world, a feeling that is amplified at the wedding of Will’s sister, Megan. Marcus, seeking to cause trouble, crashes the reception and provokes a fight with Will, which results in a large tent collapsing. Susan blames Ronnie for ruining the wedding, and a devastated Ronnie leaves.

The summer’s conflicts reach a climax when Blaze is severely burned in an accident during a fire show. Will and Ronnie rush her to the hospital. Shortly after, Steve’s health, which has been quietly declining all summer, takes a severe turn when he coughs up blood and is hospitalized. He reveals to Ronnie and Jonah that he has terminal stomach cancer, a secret that he and their mother have kept since February. Later, after Will, Ronnie, and Jonah work together to finish Steve’s stained-glass window, Will confesses to Ronnie that he knew about the church fire and kept it a secret. She feels betrayed by his dishonesty and ends their relationship.

Devastated, Ronnie learns another painful truth from her mother, who admits that it was her, not Steve, who had an affair, which led to the divorce. Ronnie realizes that she has wrongly blamed her father for years. While Jonah returns to New York with their mother, Ronnie, now 18, chooses to stay in North Carolina to care for Steve. One day, Blaze visits Ronnie, and she confesses that she framed her and reveals that Marcus, not Scott, intentionally set the church fire. The charges against Ronnie are dropped, and Marcus is arrested for arson.

Ronnie reads Steve’s unopened letters that he sent her over the years, finally understanding the depth of his love and regret. As his condition worsens, Ronnie finds his unfinished piano composition. Drawing on her own musical talent, she completes the piece. In his final days, with Blaze’s help, Ronnie tears down the wall that Steve had constructed to hide the piano and plays their song for him. Steve dies peacefully at home, having found spiritual peace in the love he shared with his children during his last summer. After Steve’s passing, Ronnie returns to New York and auditions at Juilliard. Will transfers from Vanderbilt to Columbia to be near Ronnie in New York. They reconcile and share a kiss.