Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

26-year-old Louisa Clark is unemployed after the café she works at—The Buttered Bun—closes down. She lives in a small English town with her parents, grandfather, sister Katrina and nephew. Her boyfriend of seven years, Patrick, is a fitness freak perpetually preparing for some or the other endurance race.

After a few disappointing weeks working at a chicken processing factory and spouting scripted responses while manning the point-of-sale counter at a fast-food restaurant, Louisa accepts a well-paying job as a carer to a quadriplegic, Will Traynor. Louisa is far from keen on the job but the state of her family’s finances is a bigger consideration.

Although Louisa is the character through whose perspective we see the story, Me Before You opens with a scene from Will’s life. In fact, it is the day he meets with the accident that upends his entire life. Before the accident, Will was a partner at a London bank living a luxurious, globe-trotting and adventure-packed life. The accident leaves him paralysed from the neck down except for limited movement in one arm.

The equation between the protagonists starts off distant and awkward with Louisa feeling ill-equipped and Will acting aloof and condescending. The coldness between them thaws gradually when they both realise that they enjoy each other’s company.

Louisa, with her sometimes questionable but always cheerful fashion choices and chirpy demeanour draws Will out of his dreary existence of living with almost constant pain and no change of routine. She fills his days with banter, delightful musical evenings and disastrous horse-racing events.

Will, on the other hand, opens up the world for Louisa by encouraging her to read, watch and discuss films and art she has never been exposed to, resulting in her gaining confidence in her own abilities and potential. The interplay between their different tastes, life experiences and personalities makes for some good banter.

Me Before You is a romance that builds slowly from companionship to friendship to a life-changing love. Written mostly from Louisa’s perspective (barring a couple of chapters from the viewpoints of her sister, Katrina and Will’s nurse, Nathan), we see how Will and Louisa’s mutual affection for each other brings out the best in them even though they’ve met in very difficult circumstances. As far as genre tropes go, Me Before You is a combination of opposites attract and right person, wrong time.

What works for the Me Before You is the chemistry between the main characters and the relatability of Louisa’s character. She is ordinary yet unique with real failings and redeeming qualities. Also, Moyes shows us Louisa’s growth as a person subtly, through the choices she makes as the story progresses.

Will’s character too is a dynamic one with his emotional depth, candour, honesty and affection being revealed gradually to Louisa and the reader. Through Louisa’s eyes, we witness the extremely debilitating nature of his physical condition and the hopelessness of his situation.

Me Before You is the sort of story that makes you think not only about living a better, fuller life but also what a gift it is to love and be loved in a manner that makes you want to be better. Jojo Moyes shows us Louisa being underestimated by everyone around her and how that, combined with childhood trauma, made diffidence her whole personality. Until Will, and her love for him show her what she’s capable of.  

Sadly, there’s a reason why Louisa’s been employed for only six months and therein lies her challenge. Will’s character makes the point that a life not lived to its fullest potential is not a life worth living. Since I’ve read Me Before You more than a decade after it was first published in 2012 and many years after the release of the film adaptation starring Emilia Clark and Sam Claflin, I’m aware of the debate about assisted suicide and euthanasia it stirred up. This novel caused many to question the message it was sending severely-disabled people and their loved ones. It lies with each individual reader to make up their own mind about it.