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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Jojo Moyes, ME BEFORE YOU

I liked this better than I thought I would. It's a version of the Cinderella story: Lou Clark is a twenty-something girl, aimless, poor, recently let go from her job at a tea shop, and underappreciated by her family (her mother even behaves with evil step-motherish coldness at one point). The fairy godmother appears in the guise of a job counselor, who finds her a position taking care of Will, now a paraplegic, but formerly a wildly successful banker, world traveler, and scion of a rich family; there's even (yes) a castle. But (spoiler alert!!) Moyes doesn't give us the cheap, romantic, happy ending. Will has promised his parents he'll give them six more months, and then he is allowed to go to Switzerland for assisted suicide. Lou gives him months of happiness, but she doesn't change his mind. If she had, I'd have hated the book; but Moyes doesn't back down, and the book acquires a surprising depth by having Lou (and the reader) recognize the ultimate grace occurs when we allow others to make their own choices about life and death, and to understand that it isn't about us.

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