“Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes – The Endless Wonders of Life

Louisa Clark is a young and ordinary girl who lives in a small village, outside of which she has never dared to venture. In other words, she knows very little about the world, spending most of her time wondering about all that it has to offer her.

Her life isn’t exactly a tragedy though; she has a steady life, a good boyfriend, and a loving family to make it through with every day.

One day, she decides to take a job working for Will Traynor, a man whose life has always been nothing but big: huge business deals, extreme sports, travelling the world... there is nothing the man has left unconquered. At first, their opposing characters make the relationship difficult, but as Louisa learns more and more about him, she starts to realize that his happiness may very well be more important than hers.

Upon finding out that he has terrible plans of his own, Louisa grabs the torch and sets out to teach the old man something he had long forgotten: why life is worth living in the first place.

At this point, I’m pretty sure we can make a separate category for stories such as Me Before You by Jojo Moyes; one in which two very unlikely people separated by a large generation gap end up bonding with each other, overcoming giant hurdles in the process.

However, there was something about this book which put it slightly above most others, and I believe it is due to the cast of characters. While the story is definitely centered around Louisa and Will, there are plenty of equally-interested side characters and plots that make the whole story feel more alive and believable. The background can make us perceive the foreground differently, and that’s what I think is happening here.

As for the story itself, I have to say it was quite touching to see a young and inexperienced girl inspire an old man who has seen everything to keep on living. The development of the main characters is especially fascinating, as they both take somewhat different paths and end up on the same page.

As you can probably tell though, the point of the book isn’t to simply tell a story, but to share with the readers thoughts on what makes life worth living for each and every person out there.

A fulfilling book that I would recommend to anyone with a bit of time on their hands.

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Jojo Moyes Personal site Jojo Moyes is an English novelist and journalist hailing from London. She has the distinction of being one of the few authors to have won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award on two occasions, the first time around in 2004 for her novel Foreign Fruit, and once again in 2011 with “The Last Letter From Your Lover”.