Me Before You
2012
Lou Clark loses her cafe job and takes work as a caretaker for Will Traynor, a wealthy, once-adventurous man paralyzed in a motorcycle accident two years earlier. Will has decided he wants to end his life at a facility in Switzerland, and Lou sets out to change his mind and give him reasons to keep going. This is a heavier, more serious touch, out of a small note the outset of the book undersells: the cover, the blurb, and the title all make it look like a straightforward love story, but there’s actually very little romance in it. What it’s really about is life and the weight of the choices we make.
I found Lou hilarious from early on. She’s the type who stumbles into awkward situations constantly and somehow comes out of them with her charm intact, and the funny moments never feel forced. The relationship between her and Will develops in stages and stays believable even when the characters’ reactions and decisions aren’t always likable. The book also balances the comedy with real weight, like how bad wheelchair access still is in most public places, without ever turning preachy about it. There’s a good mix of funny and serious throughout, so neither side overwhelms the other, and by the end it hits you emotionally without seeming to try too hard.
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