Me Before You

I’m a big fan of Moyes and adored her previous book, The Last Letter From Your Lover (2010), which was hugely romantic, completely gripping and had me in tears - in a good way - throughout. Here she presents us with another powerful love story. Through a deftly-plotted narrative populated with likeable, engaging characters, this novel also gradually forces the reader to confront the topical issue of assisted dying, and how they feel about it, head on. Lou Clark lives a small life in a small town. She never travels, doesn’t know how to use a computer and has no ambition beyond moving into the bigger bedroom her sister currently occupies at their parents’ house where, despite being in their late 20s, both siblings still live. Thirty-five-year-old Will Traynor, on the other hand, lives a big, full life in a riot of culture and travel with an important job in London and beautiful girls flinging themselves at him wherever he goes. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that both originate from the same small town where Lou still lives. Then a horrendous motorbike accident sees Will largely paralysed from the neck down, in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and unable to do anything he used to. When Lou loses her job in a local café, she enters Will’s life in the form of his inexperienced but determined carer. Me Before You is a bittersweet story about love, learning and letting go. It’s a tremendous read and I loved it.