The Notebook: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Exhausted and sad, Allie drives toward the hotel with tears in her eyes. She has no idea what she is going to say to Lon, but she knows she must come up with something. As she arrives at the parking lot of the inn, she sees Lon’s car in a front spot. She parks her own car across the lot from his even though the spot next to it is open. Then, she shuts off the engine and fixes her face in the mirror.

Allie is almost ready to go inside—but before doing so, she decides to open one of the letters from Noah. She reaches into her purse for the yellowed packet of letter and pulls a letter from the bottom of the pile—it is the final letter Noah ever wrote to her. Allie opens the envelope and begins reading, picturing Noah writing the letter as she does so. In the letter, which is dated March of 1935, Noah expresses to Allie that he has at last accepted that things are over between them. He writes that though he and Allie came from different worlds, only she could show him the true power of love. He is not bitter, he says—on the contrary, he wishes Allie only love and happiness in whatever she does.

Allie reads the letter three times before putting it back into the envelope. Knowing she cannot delay going into the inn any longer, Allie puts the letters back into her purse and steps out of the car. She still has no idea what she is going to say to Lon—but when she opens the front door, enters the lobby, and sees Lon standing there, the right words come to her at last.