Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Louisa loses her job as a waitress at a local café and is completely
at a loss. She loved her job and her
family relies on her income. She tries
her hand at a few positions arranged at the job center but with no education
and limited experience her choices are limited.
Finally she has an interview that seems promising, a quadriplegic man
needs a companion; she doesn’t need any medical training, she’ll just be there
to keep him company and do light housework.
Lou is expecting an elderly gentleman and is surprised to meet Will, a
former extreme sports enthusiast and business wizard confined to a wheelchair
because of a motorcycle accident.
Will has not acclimated to his new life and knows he never will
but Lou has become the bright spot and his project. He feels that she has a small life and
deserves a big one, the life he would be living if the accident didn’t take everything
away that he loved. Lou is determined to
show Will that he can love a small life; he just needs to rethink who he is and
what makes him happy. Can these two be
happy in their skins and with each other?
This is a whole tissue box book but I loved it. I loathe crying at books and movies and occasionally
I do cry when I’m sad, but more so when I’m happy. This book gets to you and gets you and then does
it again but it really makes you think. What
does your life need to be like to make you happy? Is it worth living without those things?
Normally I wouldn’t recommend a book that made me bawl quite so
much, but I think this is a great book to read and think about. If you’ve ever had someone in your life who
lost an ability that most take for granted, this book will make you empathize
even more. It will also make you think
differently, and maybe even act differently, towards the people you see every
day. Okay, getting a little teary-eyed
again thinking about this book again and I think I’m out of tissues…
