Novel•Romance•Love Story•Contemporary Fiction•Drama
Me Before You
Jojo Moyes(2012)
4.4
Pages: 369
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-670-92104-4
Description
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 major motion picture adaptation was released on 3 June 2016. The story follows Louisa Clark, a young woman who becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor, a wealthy quadriplegic ...
Awards
- New York Times Bestseller
- Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction (2012)
- Adapted into major motion picture (2016)
Excerpt
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There are 158 footsteps between the bus stop and home, but it can stretch to 180 if you aren't in a hurry, like maybe if you're wearing platform shoes. Or if you want to avoid the man who sits outside the newsagent and always seems to have a can of lager in his hand even though it's 7:30 in the morning.
I turned the corner into our street (68 steps), and could see the house from here. Dad was probably up, having his cup of tea and listening to the radio. Mum would be getting Granddad's breakfast ready and checking that his medication was laid out on the little table by his chair.
I was twenty-six years old and I still lived at home. It wasn't really a choice - we needed every penny coming in, and my wages from the café barely covered my own expenses, let alone rent for a place of my own.
Reviews
The Guardian
4.5
A powerfully moving story about love, loss, and the courage to live life to the fullest.
Publishers Weekly
4.6
Moyes has crafted a beautiful, heartbreaking tale that will stay with readers long after the final page.
Entertainment Weekly
4.3
A stunning debut that explores the complexities of love, disability, and the right to choose.
مکمل ناول پڑھیں
مکمل ناول پڑھنے کے لیے دستیاب ہے۔
Me Before You
Jojo Moyes
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367 paragraphs • Full Content
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Chapter 1 - Lou
There are 158 footsteps between the bus stop and home, but it can stretch to 180 if you aren't in a hurry, like maybe if you're wearing platform shoes. Or if you want to avoid the man who sits outside the newsagent and always seems to have a can of lager in his hand even though it's 7:30 in the morning.
I turned the corner into our street (68 steps), and could see the house from here. Dad was probably up, having his cup of tea and listening to the radio. Mum would be getting Granddad's breakfast ready and checking that his medication was laid out on the little table by his chair.
I was twenty-six years old and I still lived at home. It wasn't really a choice - we needed every penny coming in, and my wages from the café barely covered my own expenses, let alone rent for a place of my own.
But today was going to be different. Today I was going to tell Frank, my boss at the Buttered Bun café, that I deserved a raise. I had been working there for six years, and I was good at my job. I knew every regular customer's order by heart, I never called in sick, and I could make a decent cup of tea.
I pushed open the front door and called out, "I'm home!"
"Lou? Is that you?" Mum's voice came from the kitchen.
"No, it's a burglar with a key," I called back, hanging up my jacket.
I found Mum in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove. She looked tired, but then she always looked tired these days.
"How was work?" she asked.
"Fine. I'm going to ask Frank for a raise tomorrow."
Mum turned to look at me. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Jobs are hard to come by these days."
"I've been there six years, Mum. I think I've earned it."
But the next day, Frank didn't give me a raise. He gave me my notice instead. The café was closing down. After six years, I was unemployed.
Chapter 2 - The Job Center
"Louisa Clark?"
I looked up from the plastic chair where I had been waiting for forty-five minutes. The woman behind the desk looked like she had heard every sob story in the book and wasn't interested in hearing another one.
"That's me."
"Right. Let's see what we've got for you." She clicked through her computer screen. "Retail experience, catering experience... How do you feel about care work?"
"Care work?"
"Looking after people. There's a position that's just come up. Good money, too. More than you were earning at the café."
I perked up. "What kind of care work?"
"Companion to a disabled gentleman. Six months' contract. The family live up at Granta House - you know, the big place on the hill?"
I knew it. Everyone in our town knew Granta House. It was the kind of place that had its own grounds and probably more bathrooms than our entire street had bedrooms.
"What would I have to do?"
"Keep him company, basically. Make sure he takes his medication, help with meals, that sort of thing. There's a qualified carer who does all the medical stuff. You'd just be there to... well, to keep him cheerful."
Keep him cheerful. How hard could that be?
Chapter 3 - Will
Granta House was even more impressive up close. I stood at the front door, smoothing down my skirt and wishing I had worn something smarter. The woman who answered the door was elegant and blonde and looked like she had never had a hair out of place in her life.
"You must be Louisa. I'm Camilla Traynor. Please, come in."
She led me through a hallway that was bigger than our entire downstairs, past rooms filled with antique furniture and oil paintings. Everything was perfect, like a magazine spread.
"Now, I should probably prepare you," Mrs. Traynor said as we walked. "Will can be... difficult. He wasn't always like this, you understand. Before his accident, he was very different."
"What kind of accident?"
"A motorcycle accident. Two years ago. He's a quadriplegic now - paralyzed from the chest down. It's been... challenging for all of us."
We stopped outside a door at the end of a long corridor. Mrs. Traynor knocked gently.
"Will? Your new companion is here."
"Oh, goody," came a voice from inside. "Another one."
Mrs. Traynor winced slightly. "He's had several companions. None of them have... lasted very long."
She opened the door, and I got my first look at Will Traynor.
He was sitting in a wheelchair by the window, looking out at the garden. He was younger than I had expected, maybe early thirties, with dark hair and sharp features. He might have been handsome once, but now there was something hard about his expression, something bitter.
"Will, this is Louisa Clark."
He turned to look at me, and I was struck by his eyes. They were intelligent and angry and completely without hope.
"Let me guess," he said. "You're going to be my friend. You're going to cheer me up and make me see that life is still worth living."
"I... I don't know," I said honestly. "I'm just here to keep you company."
"How refreshingly honest. Well, Louisa Clark, let me save you some time. I don't want company. I don't want to be cheered up. And I certainly don't want a friend. So you can collect your money and leave now, or you can sit there quietly for the next six months and we can pretend this arrangement works for both of us."
I looked at Mrs. Traynor, who was wringing her hands. I thought about the money, about my family's bills, about the fact that I had no other options.
"I'll take the sitting quietly option," I said.
For the first time, Will looked surprised.
Chapter 4 - Getting to Know Each Other
The first few weeks were exactly as Will had predicted. I sat quietly while he read or watched television or stared out the window. I made him tea and helped Nathan, his carer, with meals. I tried to make conversation, but Will's responses were monosyllabic at best.
But I was stubborn. I had always been stubborn. And slowly, very slowly, I began to chip away at his defenses.
"What are you watching?" I asked one day as he flipped through channels.
"Nothing worth watching."
"There's a documentary about penguins on BBC Two."
"I hate penguins."
"How can you hate penguins? They're adorable."
"They're ridiculous. Flightless birds. What's the point?"
"Maybe they don't need to fly. Maybe they're happy just swimming."
He looked at me then, really looked at me. "Are you always this relentlessly optimistic?"
"Are you always this relentlessly pessimistic?"
"Yes," he said. "It's one of my few remaining talents."
But I caught the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Chapter 5 - The Truth
It was Nathan who told me the truth about Will's situation. We were in the kitchen, and I was making tea while Nathan prepared Will's medication.
"He's planning to go to Switzerland," Nathan said quietly.
"Switzerland? For treatment?"
Nathan shook his head. "Dignitas. It's a clinic there. They help people... end their lives."
I nearly dropped the teacup. "What?"
"His parents made a deal with him. He agreed to wait six months, to give life another chance. That's why they hired you. They're hoping you can change his mind."
"But... but he can't just..."
"He can. It's legal there. And Will... Will was a very different person before the accident. He was active, adventurous, successful. He traveled the world, climbed mountains, lived life to the fullest. Now he can't even..." Nathan trailed off.
"How long does he have?"
"Four months. If you can't change his mind in four months, he's going to Switzerland."
I felt like the world had shifted beneath my feet. Suddenly, my job wasn't just about keeping Will company. It was about keeping him alive.
Chapter 6 - Adventures
I decided that if Will was determined to end his life because he thought it wasn't worth living, then I would show him that it was. I started small - bringing him books I thought he might like, playing music, trying to engage him in conversation about the world outside his room.
"What did you used to do?" I asked him one day. "Before the accident?"
"I worked in finance. Mergers and acquisitions."
"Did you like it?"
"I was good at it."
"That's not what I asked."
He was quiet for a long moment. "Yes," he said finally. "I liked it. I liked the challenge, the travel, the... the feeling that I was good at something."
"What else did you like?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm trying to understand you."
"There's nothing to understand. I used to be one person, and now I'm another. The person I used to be is gone."
"But you're still here. You're still Will."
"No," he said firmly. "I'm not."
But I didn't give up. I researched activities for disabled people. I found concerts we could attend, museums with wheelchair access, restaurants with good facilities. At first, Will refused everything.
"I don't want to go out," he said. "I don't want people staring at me."
"People don't stare."
"Yes, they do. They look at me and they see what I can't do, not what I can do."
"Then let's show them what you can do."
Chapter 7 - Small Victories
Our first outing was to a classical concert. Will had mentioned that he used to love music, so I bought tickets and convinced him to come with me.
He was tense the entire way there, and I could see him watching people's reactions as we made our way to our seats. But once the music started, something changed in his face. He closed his eyes and listened, and for the first time since I had known him, he looked peaceful.
"Thank you," he said quietly as we left.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Yes. I had forgotten how much I missed live music."
It was a small victory, but it was a start.
We went to an art gallery next, then to a horse race where Will surprised me by knowing everything about the horses and jockeys. Slowly, gradually, I began to see glimpses of the person he used to be.
"You're different when we're out," I told him one day.
"Different how?"
"Happier. More like yourself."
"This isn't myself, Lou. This is just... a performance."
"Maybe the performance is when you're sitting in that room feeling sorry for yourself."
He looked at me sharply. "You don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
"I used to run marathons, Lou. I used to climb mountains. I used to travel to places most people only dream of. I was... I was alive. Really alive. And now..."
"Now you're still alive. Just differently."
"It's not enough."
"How do you know? How do you know what's enough if you won't even try?"
Chapter 8 - Falling in Love
Somewhere along the way, without meaning to, I fell in love with Will Traynor.
It wasn't the dramatic, sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of love you see in movies. It was quieter than that, sneaking up on me gradually until one day I realized that I looked forward to seeing him more than anything else in my day.
I loved his intelligence, his dry sense of humor, the way he could make me laugh even when he was being sarcastic. I loved how he listened when I talked about my family, my dreams, my fears. I loved the way he looked at me sometimes, like I was the most interesting person in the world.
"Lou," he said one day as we sat in the garden, "what do you want to do with your life?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what are your dreams? Your ambitions? You can't want to be a carer forever."
I had never really thought about it. I had always just... existed, day to day, without any grand plans.
"I don't know," I admitted.
"You should know. You should have dreams, Lou. You should want things."
"What about you? What do you want?"
His face closed off. "I want to not be in this chair."
"But since that's not possible, what else do you want?"
"Nothing else. That's the point."
"I don't believe that."
"Believe it."
But I didn't. Because I had seen him smile at a piece of music, laugh at a joke, get excited about a horse race. I had seen him care about things, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Chapter 9 - The Kiss
It happened on a rainy Thursday afternoon. We were in Will's room, and I was reading to him from a travel book about places he had visited. He was telling me stories about his adventures, and for once, he seemed genuinely happy.
"I went to this tiny island in the Caribbean," he was saying. "No tourists, just locals and the most beautiful beach you've ever seen. The water was so clear you could see fish swimming twenty feet down."
"It sounds amazing."
"It was. I stayed in this little hut right on the beach. I could hear the waves all night."
"I've never seen the ocean," I said without thinking.
"Never?"
"Never. I've barely been outside this town."
"That's criminal, Lou. You should see the world. You should experience everything it has to offer."
"Maybe someday."
"Not someday. Now. While you're young and free and..."
He stopped talking and looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.
"What?" I asked.
"You're beautiful," he said quietly.
I felt my cheeks burn. "Will..."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't... because we can't..."
"Can't what?"
Instead of answering, he leaned forward as much as he could, and I met him halfway. Our lips touched, soft and gentle and perfect.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"Lou," he whispered.
"I love you," I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them.
His face crumpled. "Don't."
"Too late."
"Lou, you don't understand. I'm still going to Switzerland."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"
"I'm still going. Nothing has changed."
"Everything has changed! We... I love you, and I think you love me too."
"I do love you," he said, and my heart soared and broke at the same time. "That's why I have to go."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does to me. Lou, I can't be the man you deserve. I can't give you the life you should have. I can't even..." He gestured helplessly at his body.
"I don't care about any of that."
"I do. I care. I won't have you waste your life taking care of me."
"It wouldn't be wasting my life. It would be living it."
But he had already turned away from me, and I knew that nothing I could say would change his mind.
Chapter 10 - The End
Will went to Switzerland on a sunny day in May. I didn't go with him - I couldn't bear to watch him die. Instead, I said goodbye to him in his room at Granta House.
"I have something for you," he said, handing me an envelope.
"What is it?"
"Instructions. And money. Enough money to go to university, to travel, to do all the things you've never done."
"Will, I can't..."
"Yes, you can. Promise me you'll use it. Promise me you'll live, Lou. Really live."
I was crying now, ugly sobs that shook my whole body. "I don't want your money. I want you."
"I know. But this is what I can give you. This is how I can love you."
"Please don't go."
"I have to. But Lou... these six months with you have been the best six months I've had since my accident. You gave me that. You gave me happiness when I thought I'd never feel it again."
"Then stay. If I made you happy, stay."
"I can't. But I need you to know that you changed me. You made me want to live again, even if I can't."
He died two days later, peacefully, with his parents by his side.
Epilogue
It's been a year since Will died, and I'm writing this from a café in Paris. I used his money to go to university, to study fashion design, to travel to all the places he told me about. I've seen the ocean - several oceans, actually. I've climbed mountains and eaten exotic foods and met interesting people.
I'm living the life Will wanted me to live, the life he thought I deserved. And while I still miss him every day, I'm grateful for the time we had together. He taught me that life is precious, that love is worth the pain, and that sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone is the freedom to choose their own path.
I carry him with me everywhere I go, in every adventure, in every new experience. He may be gone, but his love lives on in the life I'm living.
And that's enough. It has to be.
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