The Life Worth Living

My Jojo Moyes kick continues with Me Before You; the unlikely love story between Louisa Clark and Will Traynor.

Lou has just lost her job at the local cafe; she helps her family out financially and after numerous attempts to find a suitable job with her limited qualifications is placed with the Traynor family as a care giver for quadriplegic Will. Will was struck by a car two years ago and has been suffering from depression related to his injuries. He has made a deal with his parents to give spend 6 more months with them before willingly ending his life at a clinic in Switzerland. Camilla Traynor, Will’s mother, hires Lou to essentially be on suicide watch as well as to add some cheerfulness that could possibly lead to Will changing his mind.

“I had a hundred and seventeen days in which to convince Will Traynor that he had a reason to live.”

Once she realizes her true purpose within the Traynor household Lou makes it her mission to make Will rediscover his will (hehe) to live. They go on some successful and some not so successful outings throughout Louisa’s tenure as his caregiver. Their romance is a slow burn, but it’s a Jojo Moyes book so it is no spoiler to say there is a romantic undercurrent throughout the novel. I loved the relationship between Will and Lou, particularly the sarcastic bickering in the early days.

Told primarily through Lou’s point of view you do get a few chapters from other cast members. I was a bit disappointed to never get Will’s point of view on things but I suppose that was by design. It’s a sad book ending in the most appropriate although predictable way possible. I’m anxious to see how Moyes managed to write a sequel out of this one!