A Bend in the Road is the fifth novel by the American author Nicholas Sparks, who also wrote the romance love novels A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and The Rescue. It was published in 2001. The story was inspired by Sparks's brother-in-law, Bob.^[1]Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife Missy was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Miles and Sarah reach out to each other... soon they are falling in love. But what neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in- including their love.