Photo credit:  THE NOTEBOOK, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, 2004, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection

The Real-Life Love Story That Inspired Nicholas Sparks’ ‘The Notebook’ 20-years after its release, ‘The Notebook’ is still recognized as a classic example of a love story for the ages. The 2004 film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams remains the most lucrative Nicholas Sparks adaptation, earning over $117 million worldwide. The best-selling 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks of the same movie title follows the lives of Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) as they fall in love, but few people are aware that the story is based on a real-life couple that Sparks met through his ex-wife, Cathy.

“The book was inspired by his ex-wife Cathy Sparks’ grandparents, who embarked upon a passionate summer romance, only to be separated by her grandmother’s strict parents. While Cathy’s grandmother moved on, becoming engaged to another man, she never forgot her summer romance and eventually returned to her one true love.” During an interview, the author said, “Cathy’s grandparents were this great couple, and in many ways, their story [is The Notebook].” He went on, “Cathy’s grandfather had his own methods for helping her grandmother, who was diagnosed with dementia, remember their love. Toward the end of her life, she [got] dementia … and he’s with her, and showing her … drawings and photographs,” he said. “He didn’t have a notebook, but it was an album that he would walk her through and tell her about their lives together.”