Author | Jojo Moyes |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre |
|
Publisher | Michael Joseph |
Publication date | 5 January 2012 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) e-book |
Pages | 480 |
ISBN | 0-71-815783-4 |
Followed by | After You |
Me Before You is a romance novel written by Jojo Moyes. The book was first published on 5 January 2012 in the United Kingdom. A sequel titled After You was released on 24 September 2015 through Pamela Dorman Books. [1] [2] A second sequel, Still Me, was published in January 2018. [3]
Louisa is hired to be the personal assistant to Will, a young man who became disabled after an accident. Louisa and Will's relationship starts out rocky due to his bitterness and resentment over being disabled. Things worsen after Will's ex-girlfriend, Alicia, and best friend Rupert reveal that they are getting married. Under Louisa's care, Will gradually becomes more communicative and open-minded as they share experiences together. Louisa notices Will's scarred wrists and later overhears his mother and father discussing how he attempted suicide shortly after his mother, Camilla, refused his request to end his life through Dignitas, a Swiss-based assisted suicide organization. Horrified by his attempt, Camilla promised to honor her son's wish, but only if he agreed to live six more months. Camilla intends to prove that, in time, he will believe his life's worth living.
Louisa conceals knowing about Will and Camilla's agreement. However, she tells her sister Treena, and together they devise ways that will help convince Will to abandon his death wish. Over the next few weeks, Will loosens up and Louisa begins taking him on outings and the two grow closer.
Through their frequent talks, Louisa learns that Will has traveled extensively; his favorite place is a café in Paris. Noticing how limited his life is now and that he has few ambitions, Louisa tries to motivate Will to change.
Louisa continues seeing her longtime boyfriend of 7 years, Patrick, though they eventually break up due to her relationship with Will. Meanwhile, Louisa's father loses his job, causing more financial difficulties. Steven Traynor offers Mr. Clark a position. Louisa realizes that Will is trying to help her secure her freedom from her family. The two attend Alicia and Rupert's wedding where they dance and flirt. Will tells Louisa that she is the only reason he wakes in the morning.
Louisa convinces Will to go on a holiday with her, but before they can leave, Will contracts near-fatal pneumonia. Louisa cancels the plans for a whirlwind trip. Instead, she takes Will to the island of Mauritius. The night before returning home, Louisa tells Will that she loves him. Will says he wants to confide something, but she admits that she already knows about his plans with Dignitas. Will says their time together has been special, but he cannot bear to live in a wheelchair. He will be following through with his plans. Angry and hurt, Louisa storms off and does not speak to him for the remainder of the trip. When they return home, Will's parents are pleasantly surprised by his good physical condition. Louisa, however, resigns as his caretaker, and they understand that Will intends to end his life.
Back at home Louisa is miserable and her mother is outraged when Louisa tells them everything about Will. The media and journalists arrive at the house having been tipped off by Patrick and the family become isolated. Treena then finds a message from Camilla Traynor requesting Louisa to come to Switzerland. Louisa accepts despite her mother forbidding it and flies out to see Will. Once reunited again at the clinic they agree that the past six months have been the best in their lives. He dies shortly after in the clinic, and it is revealed that he left Louisa a considerable inheritance, meant to continue her education and to fully experience life. The novel ends with Louisa at a café in Paris, reading Will's last words to her in a letter, that tell her to 'live well'.
According to Book Marks , the book received "positive" reviews based on 4 critic reviews with 4 being "positive". [6]
The book was placed on the Richard and Judy Book Club. [7] [8]
Disability advocates have criticised the book and film for suggesting that life may not be worth living for some with severe disabilities. [9]
In 2014 MGM announced it would make a film adaptation of Me Before You, to be directed by Thea Sharrock [10] and released via Warner Bros. The film was initially set to release in August 2015 but was pushed back to 3 June 2016. [11]
Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin portray the main characters. The film has grossed over $200 million worldwide. [12]
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871), and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Encouraged by her family, Louisa began writing from an early age.
Thetis is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.
Harriet Jacobs was an African-American abolitionist and writer whose autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, is now considered an "American classic".
Seussical, sometimes Seussical the Musical, is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on Horton Hears a Who!, Gertrude McFuzz, and Horton Hatches the Egg while incorporating many other stories. The musical's name is a portmanteau of "Seuss" and the word "musical". Following its Broadway debut in 2000, the show was widely panned by critics, and closed in 2001 with huge financial losses. It has spawned two US national tours and a West End production, and has become a frequent production for schools and regional theaters.
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman is a 2003 American animated superhero film based on The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999). Released in the U.S. in October 2003, the film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and is the fourth film in the DC Animated Universe.
Toby Twirl is a cartoon character created by children's author Sheila Hodgetts for her publisher, Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. during the 1940s and 1950s. All of the stories are illustrated by Edward Jeffrey. The first book, Toby in Pogland, was produced in large format and published in 1946. Four other large format books followed. The standard sized annual format, also published in 1946, began a series that continued until 1958, totalling 14 in all. There were also other formats including small strip books, pop-up books and jigsaws. A series of 8 Toby Twirl Tales, each with two stories, were published between 1950 and 1954.
Things Not Seen is a first-person novel written by Andrew Clements and his third novel after Frindle and The Landry News. The title is apparently taken from Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" in the King James Version of the Bible. The book was originally released in 2002 by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Group, but was re-released in 2006 as a platinum edition by Puffin. The platinum edition includes a short interview with Andrew Clements and a redesigned cover.
Pauline Sara Jo Moyes, known professionally as Jojo Moyes, is an English journalist and, since 2002, an award-winning romance novelist, #1 New York Times best selling author and screenwriter. She is one of only a few authors to have twice won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association and her works have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have sold over 40 million copies worldwide.
"A New England Nun" is a short story by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman published in 1891.
Queen Camilla is a satirical novel by the British author Sue Townsend.
Don J. Snyder is an American novelist and screenwriter.
Slam is a novel written by British author Nick Hornby, published in 2007. The book's main theme is teenage pregnancy and it is written from the perspective of a teenager, Sam.
Linda Lovelace was an American pornographic actress who became famous for her performance in the 1972 hardcore film Deep Throat, which was an enormous success. She later alleged that her abusive husband, Chuck Traynor, had threatened and coerced her into participation. In her autobiography Ordeal, she described what took place behind the scenes. She later became a born-again Christian and a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement.
Me Before You is a 2016 romantic drama film directed by Thea Sharrock in her directorial debut and adapted by author Jojo Moyes from her 2012 novel of the same name. The film stars Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance and Brendan Coyle.
Madison Clark is a fictional character and the protagonist for the first four and eighth seasons of the AMC television series Fear the Walking Dead. She is portrayed by Kim Dickens, and created by Robert Kirkman and former showrunner Dave Erickson. Madison is a former high school guidance counselor, Nick and Alicia's mother, and Travis Manawa's fiancée.
Leyla Harding is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Roxy Shahidi. She made her first on-screen appearance on 11 August 2008 and was introduced by series producer, Anita Turner. The character departed on 5 August 2011. Shahidi returned to Emmerdale for two episodes on 25 December 2013. She returned full-time in January 2014. On 5 January 2018, Shahadi took maternity leave from the show whilst pregnant with her first child. She returned on 3 October 2018. It was announced in October 2024 that Shahidi had quit the soap and Leyla would be killed off between the end of the year and the new year's.
After You is a romance novel written by Jojo Moyes. It is a sequel to Me Before You. The book was first published on 29 September 2015 in the United Kingdom. A third novel in the series, Still Me, was published in January 2018.
Sing, Unburied, Sing is the third novel by the American author Jesmyn Ward and published by Scribner in 2017. It focuses on a family in the fictional town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. The novel received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017.
The Giver of Stars is a 2019 historical fiction novel by Jojo Moyes about packhorse librarians in a remote area of Kentucky. Set in Depression-era America, The Giver of Stars is the story of five extraordinary women and their journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond. The women deliver library books to people in the mountains of Kentucky during the Great Depression, a real-life program launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Universal Pictures has acquired the movie rights to The Giver of Stars, and the feature film is in the early stages of production.
Spare is a memoir by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, which was released on 10 January 2023. It was ghostwritten by J. R. Moehringer and published by Penguin Random House. It is 416 pages long and available in digital, paperback, and hardcover formats and has been translated into fifteen languages. There is also a 15-hour audiobook edition, which Harry narrates himself.