ME BEFORE YOU is my second time around with UK author Jojo Moyes. I had the opportunity to read her first novel THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER and did not think it was possible for someone to shoot directly for my heart and strike it in the same fashion twice in a row. But I was simply wrong as Moyes is quite skilled with her keyboard writing novels that drew me in page after page all the while hoping to catch my breath.
Louisa Clark (Lou), a young uneducated townie, needs a new job to support her family but it is not so easy in this little village. She interviews for a care assistant position for a man, Will Traynor (Will), in the prime of his life that has become a quadriplegic. Lou lands the job but it is fraught with many challenges that she doesn’t know if she can handle. Will who had a “perfect life” is now trapped in this chair and this life.
This unlikely duo from opposite sides of the tracks is now joined. It takes a while for them to find a rhythm but once they do these are some of the most endearing moments of ME BEFORE YOU. Their relationship continues to develop as each shares parts of the themselves including secrets and their pasts.
Eventually, Lou hatches a plan to show Will that the great big world out there is still accessible to him even in the damn chair. She tries to open his heart to joie de vie even though something is holding her back from her own. It seems like they are growing closer and looking to the future and yet can it be this simple?
There were several times during reading ME BEFORE YOU that I had to make myself stop reading. In more than one spot I thought my heart would split open and certain things going on in my personal life made this just too much. Yet, I was compelled to return because the writing and characters are so worth the heart-break.
I am sure that this is just the start of many more novels to come for Moyes, it is easy to see ME BEFORE YOU being adapted for the big or small screen. The story has many layers and textures and it leaves much to contemplate and discuss when finished.
If you would like to learn more about Moyes or her novels visit her website: www.JojoMoyes.com. ME BEFORE YOU is published by Pamela Dorman books, they have many wonderful titles to read: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/adult/pameladorman-books.html
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Wow! this sounds wonderful! I do love a good book that gives an emotional punch.
Thank you for stopping by and for the comment. I thought it was wonderful and so very differnt then anything I have ever read.