Last week, while eating my lunch in the dark in my classroom, one of our regular substitutes, who knows that I read a lot, brought me this book. She said she really liked it, that it was "different" and that I did not need to return it to her. I promised to pass it on when I was done, but I'm not sure I want to let it go. This book was very powerful. I feel certain it will be high on this year's top ten list of reads.
Me Before You is the story of Will Traynor, a quadriplegic, and Louisa Clark, his assistant who was hired to try to make Will see that his life, no matter how limited in function and scope, was worth living. Will had tried to commit suicide not long after the injury that landed him in a wheelchair at age 35 and he was very unhappy with his current life situation. He longs for his former freedom and adventurous life. It's Lou's job to bring him back to the life of the living. She has six months to accomplish this goal before Will's family will take him to Switzerland to end his life.
I'm not going to detail anymore of the plot because it will ruin the story, which is brilliantly written. The story is mainly told by Lou, but each character at some point in the book gets a chapter to tell his/her views and to continue the story. I was mostly moved by the chapter told by Will's father, a man who was no longer in love with his wife and was having an affair. When he explained that the only way he could live his life as he wanted (ie-- to leave his wife) would be for his son to die. What a dilemma. Lou's family is precious and endearing, especially her father. These characters are lively and memorable. I felt as though I was watching a movie play out in my head, they were all so clearly crafted.
Despite the fact that I was sobbing at the end, I think this is a book you could read at the beach, or by the pool. (For my female friends, the lack of make-up and need to wear sunglasses are a bonus--you wouldn't have mascara to cry away and your sunglasses will hide your puffy eyes, if you do.) It was a very quick read, too. I started the book on Sunday and finished it today (Saturday), but really read most of the book between last night and this morning. Had I not been distracted by a friend and her desire to see a movie on our snow day on Monday, I couldn't finished it all in one day, I am sure. I just wanted to keep reading to see how Lou was progressing with her calendar (read the book to find out about that!).
There's so much more that I want to say about this book and how it handles sex and love and death and dying and people's choices for their own lives, but I can't without ruining the story. So, I'll guess for once I'll just stop typing and let you read this amazing story. It really is wonderful. And different. Just like Judy said.
I think this one is going to stick with me for a while.
Happy reading!
:) Dodie
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