Plot

An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.

With almost religious devotion, Duke, a kind octogenarian inmate of a peaceful nursing home, reads daily a captivating story from the worn-out pages of his leather-bound notebook to a fellow female patient. To keep her company, Duke recounts the fascinating love affair between impecunious but poetic country boy Noah and Allie, an affluent city girl. And little by little, Duke unfolds a Southern, lumber-scented summer romance beneath the tall trees of late 1930s North Carolina. Indeed, it seems as if the silent manuscript possesses the unfathomable power to penetrate the opaque clouds that enclose the silver-haired dame; slowly but surely, the enchanted lady becomes immersed in the strangely alluring fairy tale of the young ardent lovers' highs and lows. But nobody knows what tomorrow holds. Are all summer loves doomed to fail?—Nick Riganas

The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie's parents who disapprove of Noah's unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, then, with her love for Noah still alive, stops by Noah's 200-year-old home that he restored for her, "to see if he's okay." It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her fiancé and her first love.—Jessica Cymerman

At a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man, Duke (James Garner), reads a romantic story from his notebook to a fellow patient Allie. Both Duke and Allie live in a nursing home.

In 1940, Seabrook Island, South Carolina, poor lumber mill worker Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) sees 17-year-old heiress Allison "Allie" Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) at a carnival. He pursues her, coerces her into dating him. Noah approaches Allie to ask for a dance, which she refuses. Allie goes on the Ferris wheel with a friend, and Noah jumps on the wheel and sits in the same carriage as Allie. Noah asks Allie out for a date, but she refuses again. Noah threatens to jump off the wheel unless Allie agrees to the date. Allie agrees to go out on a date with Noah, to stop him from jumping off.

Later, Allie refuses to honor her promise of a date. Noah uses his friend Fin and his girlfriend Sara (Heather Wahlquist) to lure Allie for a movie night and Noah reaches there with Fin. Noah later walks Allie home. Allie reveals that she had not seen a movie in ages, as she doesn't have much time. Her schedule is decided by her parents, and she has tutors and activities almost all day.

Noah goads Allie by insinuating that she is not free to do as she pleases. They share a dance in the middle of the street. Noah and Allie start a romance. They started spending every waking hour together and fall in love with each other. They argued a lot, and rarely agreed on anything, but they also had a lot of fun. Allie learned swimming and how to drive a truck, with Noah. Despite their differences they were crazy about each other.

When Allie meets Noah's father Frank Calhoun (Sam Shepard), he immediately likes her. Frank is warm, inviting and free of any prejudice. However, when Noah meets her parents, they disapprove. Noah is made to admit that he makes 40 cents an hour at his job at the lumberyard. They believe that Noah has too much spirit for Allie, who comes from a different background and circumstances.

Noah takes Allie to an abandoned house at Windsor Plantation that he intends to buy for them. Allie also gives specs to Noah that she wants incorporated in the house for herself. She wants a white house with blue shutters, and a room overlooking the water, where she can paint. A big porch that wraps around the house, where they can sip tea and watch the sun go down. They try to make love for the first time (Allie is talking too much and is very nervous, while Noah wanted to be patient and respectful to her feelings) but are interrupted by Noah's friend Fin (Kevin Connolly) with the news that Allie's parents have the police looking for her.

When Allie and Noah return to her parents' mansion, Allie's mother Anne (Joan Allen) calls Noah trash (she says that Allie is likely to end up pregnant or heartbroken) and they ban her from seeing Noah. Allie says that her parents don't know anything about love as they don't enjoy each other's company at all.

Noah walks out and Allie chases after him. They have an ensuing argument (Noah says that Allie is eventually going to leave him and suggests that they slow things down between them), and she impulsively breaks up with him, but immediately regrets it. The next morning, Anne announces that the family is returning home to Charleston. Allie attempts to contact Noah, but is unable to find him, so she asks Fin to tell Noah that she loves him. Allie says that it is not over between them and that they just had a fight the previous day. When Noah gets the message he rushes to Allie's home, only to find the house gated up and empty.

Noah writes to Allie every day for a year, but Anne intercepts the letters such that they never reach Allie. When all 365 go unanswered, he stops writing to move on. Noah enlists with Fin to fight in World War II and fight in the Battle of the Bulge, where Fin is killed in battle. Allie volunteers in a hospital for wounded soldiers, where she meets captain Lon Hammond Jr. (James Marsden), a young lawyer who comes from old Southern money. After a few years being together, the two become engaged to the delight of Allie's parents.

When Noah returns from the war, his father has sold their home so that Noah can buy the abandoned house. While visiting Charleston, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon kissing at a restaurant; he convinces himself that if he restores the house, Allie will come back to him. Once it's completed, Noah resists selling it. Later, while Allie is being fitted for her wedding dress, Allie is startled to see in the newspaper that Noah has completed the house to the specifications she made years before.

After Allie asks permission from Lon to take a little trip before the wedding, Allie returns to Seabrook to find Noah living in the restored house. The two renew their relationship and make love. Noah tells Allie about the 365 letters, and they realize her mother kept them from her.

Several days later, Anne appears in the morning on Noah's doorstep to warn Allie that Lon has followed her to Seabrook. She also reveals that she once loved a lower-class young man in town and still wonders how changed their lives would have been if she had chosen differently. Noah and Allie argue and he tells her to decide what she wants, not what everyone else does. She drives back to her hotel, sobbing and confused. Anne then gives Allie the letters that Noah wrote to her as an admission that she had hidden them from Allie. Subsequently, Allie confesses to Lon that she had spent time with Noah, and eventually returns to her relationship with Noah.

In the present narrative, it is revealed that the elderly woman is dementia-stricken Allie (Gena Rowlands), Duke is actually Noah, who uses a pseudonym to not startle her in her disoriented state. The journal he reads to her she wrote during the early stages of her illness, detailing their romance and life together so he could help her come back to him. Noah has kept the promise to read it to her almost daily.

Almost at the end of the journal in the notebook, Allie asks Noah what happened at the end of the story and Noah prompts her that she knows. She briefly recognizes him and remembers. Allie asks how long they have before she forgets again and Duke tells her possibly five minutes. They dance to their song, "I'll Be Seeing You", and she asks about their kids. However, Allie's dementia quickly relapses and she panics to see a stranger touching her, so is sedated.

Noah suffers a heart attack and is sent to the hospital while Allie is sent to a dementia ward in the same hospital. Noah visits Allie's room in the middle of the night causing her to remember him again and proceeds to remind her of her illness, though he reassures her that they can do anything with the love they share. While sleeping, both Noah and Allie pass away in each other's arms and a nurse discovers them in the morning.