Ups and downs through the example of Me before you by J. Moyes

Jojo Moyes writes a heart-rending novel of Will Traynor, a charmer, belonging to the upper crust, who became a quadriplegic , which can’t leave anyone cold. The author puts an emphasis on the opposition between him living life to the full and after the tragedy – being unable to move a muscle.

After he attempted to commit suicide, his mother decided to employ a carer – a cheerful person whose job would be to entertain Will and rescue him from a monotonous and oppressive life. Louisa, a rather down-to-earth girl with no exceptional talents, tried herself in that role.

Jojo Moyes portrays her characters in a true-to-life manner. It is really mesmerizing to observe how Will and Lou began turning from enemies into friends. At first, Will kept her arm’s length and sometimes behaved as if he was mad as a hatter. Lou was trying to mend fences with him. This character can’t but capture readers’ hearts. But after a while they begin to feel the pull to each other. The author shows not love at first sight but cultivating relationship of trust and friendship when people have eaten a bushel of salt with each other. Will persuades her that she is too bright, too interesting . He challenges Lou to live as fully as possible because she only gets one life. Lou even compares herself with Eliza Dolittle:

Now he was just Will – maddening, mercurial, clever, funny Will – who patronized me and liked to play Professor Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle.

Sparkling with glimpses of witty humour and powerful emotion, at the same time the novel tells about mental and physical suffering

which forces Will to think of terminating his life with the help of euthanasia. Lou says:

If you loved someone it was your job to stick with them, to help them through the depression, in sickness and in health.

To my mind, this quotation embodies Lou’s courage, sensitivity and self-sacrifice. This novel is a delight to read because it embraces a great many things ‒ making hard choices, overcoming obstacles, enjoying life, understanding that it contains black and white stripes, falling in love and supporting your nearest and dearest and looking on the sunny side of things in spite of everything.