num_pages: 398
description: Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old in poor health and alone in the world he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together  how they met the precious paintings they collected together the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth cant possibly be in the car with him but he clings to her words and his memories reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.A few miles away at a local rodeo a Wake Forest College seniors life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success ruin and reward -- even life and death  loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret hes keeping doesnt destroy it first.Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair beyond death to the farthest reaches of the human heart.
language: English
title: The Longest Ride
publisher: Grand Central Publishing