NOAH Calhoun (Garner) pays regular visits to Allie Nelson (Rowlands) in her nursing home, regaling her with an epic story of thwarted love from his notebook.

He transports Allie back to the emotional upheaval of the Second World War where two North Carolina teens, Allie (McAdams) and Noah (Gosling), from opposite sides of the social divide fall hopelessly in love.

They share a magical summer together only for her snobby parents (Thornton and Allen) and then the war to tear the two lovers apart.

Once the conflict is over, the former sweethearts find themselves separated: she is engaged to be married to a local businessman, Lon (Marsden), and he adopts an almost hermetic existence, restoring a 200-year-old mansion.

When young Allie sees her former lover in a newspaper article, old feelings surface and she is forced to make a choice between the present and the past.