‘Me Before You’ is one you should read
After finishing Jojo Moyes' Me Before You, you grasp why the novel, a word-of-mouth sensation from Britain, has been sold to 28 countries.
Yet it's a bit hard to describe or stuff into a single category. There's an unlikely love story, complicated family dynamics and a moral dilemma of an ending that Jodi Picoult might envy. Me Before You also paints a portrait of a small English village riddled with class distinctions that rings more true than J.K. Rowling's overwrought The Casual Vacancy.
Most of all, Me Before You is a page-turner that sucks the reader into caring about the fate of the heroine. Neither beautiful nor brilliant nor bold, Louisa Clark at 26 is tethered to her loving if often-exasperating family, her fitness-obsessed boyfriend and the little town of Stortfold.
Sitting in the shadow of medieval Stortfold Castle, it offers few opportunities for Louisa, whose working-class parents depend on her paycheck. It's a crowded, anxious house since Louisa's older sister is a single mother with a young son and Louisa's stroke-stricken grandfather requires constant care.
The story begins after Louisa is laid off at the local cafe. Reluctantly, she accepts a job as an in-home care assistant for a 35-year-old quadriplegic named Will Traynor.
Until a motorcycle accident crippled him, Will lived a life as big as Louisa's was small. Wealthy family, big financial job in London, gorgeous well-connected girlfriend, glam holidays around the world. Now he's trapped in a wheelchair living with his parents in Stortfold. Because there is a full-time male attendant, Louisa is not responsible for Will's physical care.
Instead, she is charged with the impossible task of cheering up a bitter, enraged, sarcastic man who wants to die. How the relationship develops between Will and Louisa is absolutely fascinating.
Me Before You is by turns funny and moving but never predictable. The plot contains a number of surprises and raises thoughtful questions about assisted suicide. But the most compelling element isn't how Louisa helps Will. It's how Will helps to free Louisa emotionally.