Me Before You is a novel that I only read because it was September's pick for a book club I belong to with a few friends from college. I was skeptical at first since I am generally leery of love stories and all things sentimental, but when I brought up the book title during lunch one day and several colleagues from the English department assured me that is was a great read, I became intrigued.
Quickie Summary:
Louisa lives in a small, working-class town in England in a house she shares with her parents, sister, nephew, and grandfather. She has just been released from her beloved job as a server at the local diner and is looking for a new position so that she can continue to help support her family. After a string of temporary jobs, she answers an ad calling for a full-time care-giver for a quadripelegic. Will, the man she ends up working for is angry at the circumstances that landed him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and often takes his resentment out on those around him. Though difficult at first, Louisa sticks with the challenge and develops a relationship with Will that will change her life forever.
There are a few things that I loved about this book. For starters, the characters are great. Louisa is one of those characters that you can't help but picture in your mind when she's speaking. She and the town they all live in are so alive and believable. Moyes also does a great job of developing the characters throughout the novel; I was so attached to them by the end.
Take-aways:
- The characters are always drinking tea, and you will want to as well.
- You will probably cry in the end, but it's a good cry, not based on overly-sentimental writing but a genuine care for what happens to the characters.
- A few moral questions arise in the narrative, but you never feel as if Moyes is preaching at you.
- It makes for great discussion.
- The title is perfect, and it's meaning is wonderfully developed over the course of the book.
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