At the start of this academic year, and after a year off on maternity leave, I decided to embrace Book Club. For three reason: (1) I absolutely love reading (I am the sort of person who goes on holiday for 2 weeks and has read all of their books within the first 3 days); (2) To make some new work friends and stop just sitting out on a limb in the filthy Humanities office refusing to talk to anyone else; and (3) To actually talk about something other than the kids!
So when a colleague sent around an email before the summer holidays saying she was setting up a book club I jumped at the chance to sign up. We were set the task of reading Me Before You over the summer holidays. It was a book I had never heard of, written by an author I had never heard of. However the signs on Amazon were good!
After the first few pages I have to admit I wasn't holding out much hope - I am a big fan of easy to read 'chick-lit' but was hoping for something a bit more interesting to discuss. We first meet Will, who is a bit of a man about town arsehole, with beautiful girlfriend and fantastic job - until he has a life changing accident.
Cut to Lou - she is in her 20s and is still living at home looking after her parents, stuck in a rut with a useless boyfriend. She loses her rubbish job early on and applies to become a full-time carer of a quadriplegic man.
This is where our two main characters meet - Will's mum employs Lou to look after him. Obviously it doesn't go according to plan as he is difficult and moody, and she is incompetent and just one in a long line of carers who have failed. Sounds dull and predictable doesn't it? The story suddenly gets a bit more interesting when we learn about the deal Will has struck with his parents - he wants to fly to Switzerland to end his life, but his parents have six months to persuade him otherwise.
The next couple of hundred pages focus on Lou trying to persuade Will that he can still embrace life, while at the same time he embarks on an improvement programme for her - trying to mould her into a better person. Some of the disasters that occur will make you laugh, while others will make you cross, and if you are anything like me you will be a bit disappointed by the predictable love story that emerges.
However the end of this book stands out - despite everything that happens in the book the ending is not what you think (which upset many of my fellow book club members, but pleased me as it would have been too easy to end with the predicted happy ending). Despite all of her hard work and planning Lou hasn't worked a miracle and Will hasn't decided that he's okay without the use of his legs after all.
That's why I enjoyed this book so much, despite the slightly predictable love story. This is a serious issue that we hear more and more about in the news - and who knows how we would feel in the same situation - reading this book should make you feel grateful for everything you have. And the book itself? Well, it is well written, and a definite page turner, which I am sure one day will make it onto the big screen.
4/5
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