Me before You

A heartbreaking yet lovely story

If you want to cry your heart out and smile while doing it, then this might be the book for you. I chose to recommend Me before You because it is one of the few books which has brought me to tears.

Me before you is a sweet story about how friendship and love can change your life. The book revolves around Louise “Lou” Clark. She is in her twenties and still living at home, since her family needs both her support and her income. Her family consists of her confused grandpa, her unemployed father, her mother who takes care of everyone and her older sister, who also has a baby boy.

When Lou loses her job she can see how her life, which already is quite unstable, now will fall apart completely. She desperately needs a job. This is where Will joins the story. Will is a few years older than Lou and bound to a wheelchair. He lost the will to live at the same time as he lost the ability to use his body. Will’s parents decide to hire Lou as his keeper, but in fact it is more because he needs a friend.

At first Lou hates Will. He is negative and do not want to see anything outside his own house. Will himself is not fond of the situation either. Lou is too cheerful and insecure at the same time. But as time goes by they both give each other a chance. They realise that friendship can be found and maybe they will find even more...

I recommend Me before You to anyone who loves romantic novels. The language is easy to understand, even if English not is your first language. It is easy to relate to Lou’s life and it feels good to move your thoughts to the English countryside for a while, where this story takes place. I believe this book will be a modern classic, since it already has spread worldwide.

Jojo Moyes has written several books in the same genre and this summer Me before you will premiere on cinemas all over the world.

Lisa Nordahl. Peer corrected by Wilma Schlömer, and Alma Swärdh. NATE15