The Wish

The Wish by Nicholas Sparks is a romance novel first published in 2021. It tells the story of Maggie Dawes, a world-famous travel photographer at the end of her life after her battle with cancer. She recounts a story from 23 years ago when, at the age of 16, she met the love of her life, Bryce Trickett. Through their story, Sparks explores themes such as The Transformative Power of Love, The Importance of Human Connection When Coping With Difficult Circumstances, and The Role of Art in Self-Discovery.

Sparks is a renowned romance novelist, having written over 20 novels—all of which were New York Times bestsellers. Eleven of his novels have been turned into feature films including his first novel, The Notebook (1996), which was adapted into a popular 2004 movie starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Like The Wish, several of his novels take place in small North Carolina towns, such as Dear John (2006), The Last Song (2009), and Nights in Rodanthe (2002). Sparks also often utilizes narratives that explore multiple timelines, with an older narrator remembering a romance from years before—a technique he employs in novels like The Choice (2007), A Walk to Remember (1999), and here in The Wish, as Maggie tells the story of her teenage romance.

This guide references the 2022 first trade paperback edition of the novel published by Grand Central Publishing.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness and death. 

Plot Summary

Forty-year-old Maggie Dawes is a successful travel photographer living in Manhattan. She’s diagnosed with terminal cancer and undergoes treatment for several years. To help cope, she posts a series of videos on YouTube documenting her illness. She gains a large following, which creates an influx of business at her art gallery. She decides to hire a young man, Mark Price, with whom she ends up becoming very good friends.

In December, Maggie learns that her cancer is no longer treatable and she’s given only a few months to live. Devastated, she turns to Mark for comfort. When Mark asks her why she never married, she tells the story of Bryce Trickett, a boy she met when she was 16.

The story flashes back to 1995 to a pregnant, 16-year-old Maggie, who was sent to live with her aunt, Linda, in Ocracoke, North Carolina. Her parents were ashamed of her pregnancy and encouraged her to live with Linda—a former nun—until the birth and give her child up for adoption.

Initially, Maggie struggled in North Carolina—with her schoolwork, her pregnancy symptoms, and a lack of connection with anyone in the small town of Ocracoke. Linda tried to encourage her to meet people, but instead, Maggie spent much of her time alone in her room, hugging her teddy bear, Maggie-bear.

On the way home from church on the ferry one Sunday, Maggie met a 17-year-old boy named Bryce. He was homeschooled and graduated early. He planned to attend West Point in the fall. Although Maggie had no interest in romance because of her pregnancy, she began feels attracted to Bryce. At Linda’s insistence, Bryce tutored Maggie in her schoolwork. 

In the present, Maggie struggles with her illness. She spends much of her time sleeping and often feels too unwell to go to the gallery. However, when she is given tickets to The Nutcracker ballet, she invites Mark to go along with her. At dinner, Mark asks her to continue telling her story.

After a few weeks of tutoring, Maggie and Bryce grew close, and Maggie began passing all her classes, happy to have someone else her age to befriend. As a result, she also grew closer with Linda.

During the Christmas season, Linda invited Bryce to come over and decorate the tree. Bryce invited Maggie to come with his family to watch the train of boats that people decorate for the holidays. She agreed and began to wonder if he was interested in her romantically.

In the present, Mark and Maggie finish dinner. Maggie decides that she would like to decorate a tree for Christmas at the gallery, so she has one delivered a couple days before the holiday. Although struggling with her illness, Maggie manages to make it to the gallery to watch Mark decorate the tree. Afterward, she continues her story.

After spending Christmas together, Maggie and Bryce continued to grow closer. He introduced her to photography, and she practiced daily on top of doing her schoolwork with him. She slowly realized that she was beginning to have feelings for him.

Bryce asked Maggie out on their first official date. He took her out to dinner, then to the beach where he set up a bonfire. He showed her a kite he made with Christmas lights on it, and the two shared their first kiss.

Maggie finishes decorating the gallery tree with Mark and expresses sadness that it’s her final Christmas. Mark eagerly agrees to spend it with her, so they return to the gallery on Christmas Eve for dinner. Mark asks Maggie to finish her story.

After their first kiss, Maggie and Bryce grew even closer. They spent every day together doing schoolwork, taking photographs, and walking around town. Meanwhile, Maggie prepared to give birth, experiencing even more symptoms and entering her final trimester.

One Saturday afternoon, Bryce’s mother came to see Maggie, worried over how Bryce had been acting. He had stopped training for military school, started asking questions about his grandfather’s fishing business, and seemed distant. Maggie admitted that she had noticed but wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maggie told Bryce’s mother that she and Bryce both knew she would leave soon, making their relationship uncertain.

The following weekend, Bryce asked Maggie to come with him for a surprise. Bryce took her to a rundown home away from the beach and asked her to marry him. He wanted her to keep the baby so they could raise it together. He assured her that she could finish high school from home, that he wouldn’t go to West Point, and that he could work as a fisherman for a few years until they could both go to college. Shocked, Maggie assured him she loved him but asked for time to think.

That night, Maggie laid in bed holding Maggie-bear for much of the night. She realized that she didn’t want to marry Bryce or keep the baby; she wanted to finish high school and return to her family. However, she was still adamant that she loved Bryce and wanted a future with him.

The next day, Maggie told Bryce how she felt. She assured him that she loved him, but that they were too young. They both needed to grow up before they could be sure that they wanted to spend forever together; to do that, they needed to go their separate ways. She assured him that they could write to each other each Christmas, and Bryce made her promise to come back on her 24th birthday once they had established their lives.

In the present, Maggie and Mark finish eating dinner in the gallery. Mark asks what happened next, and Maggie admits that she never saw Bryce again. She went into labor and gave birth the next day, then her mother came to get her before she could return to Ocracoke. She gave Maggie-bear to Linda to give to the new baby. 

Maggie and Bryce fulfilled their promise and wrote a card to each other every Christmas. She was always surprised that Bryce continued to feel the same way, like they were destined to be together. Maggie shows Mark a letter from Linda letting her know that Bryce died while deployed in Afghanistan.

Mark can tell that Maggie is devastated by her story. He asks her what she wants for Christmas. She admits that most of what she wants can’t happen, but she would love to know if the baby is happy.

Mark gives Maggie a Christmas present—inside is Maggie-bear. Maggie realizes Mark is her son, just as Mark grabs her hand and wishes her Merry Christmas.

Mark stays with Maggie over the next few months as she succumbs to her illness. She’s visited by her parents and her closest friends, eventually dying at home. In her final moments, Mark admits his fear over her death; however, Maggie reassures him that love will win out over fear.

After Maggie dies, Mark returns to Ocracoke. He has part of Maggie’s ashes as well as a letter from her and a seashell necklace that Bryce gave her. In the letter, she thanks Mark for finding her and for being there for her last few days. She also admits that she believes that she and Bryce will always be a part of him, as she believes that their love during her pregnancy helped him grow into the man he is now.

As Mark scatters her ashes, he remembers all the moments that Bryce and Maggie had together on Ocracoke. He also thinks of the memories that he and Maggie made in her final months.