Preface and Chapter 1: Robert Kincaid Summary

Preface: The Beginning

Robert James Waller received a call from Michael Johnson who lived in Florida. Michael told him that he had a story he'd like to tell him, a story worth writing. He and his sister, Carolyn, arranged to meet him in Des Moines, Iowa. If Waller decided not to write the story, he promised not to reveal the details to anyone. The brother and sister told the emotional story of their mother, Francesca, and her lover, Robert. He agreed that the story was worth telling. They met another three times during the writing process. He used other resources including the notebooks that Francesca had written. There were still some gaps in the story which the author filled in by using his best judgment. The most challenging aspect of the work was capturing the...