“Me Before You” By Jojo Moyes

I have a 21-year-old daughter named Lily who uses a wheelchair. So any book that has a main character in a wheelchair is one more book that I think the universe badly needs. I remember the first day she got her manual wheelchair. She was about to start pre-school. I was feeling a little scared for her and a little scared for me that the time had finally come to retire her stroller and get a wheelchair, a real wheelchair. My friend Sally, the wisest woman I know, took me to lunch and told it to me straight, “You are going to hate the wheelchair right now but eventually you are going to love it because it will give her independence. Real independence.” And Sally was absolutely right. I grew to love that manual wheelchair and when it was time to get her a power wheelchair I soon fell head over heels in love with that hunky, 350 lb. piece of metal, too, because it gave Lily the power to fly on her own. I read “Me Before You” when it was first published several years ago, but I’m recommending it now because it will be released as a movie next month. It is the story of Will Traynor, a wealthy and over-achieving young man who is wheelchair bound following an accident. When the under-achieving Louisa Clark is hired as one of his caregivers, they form a bond that changes both of their lives forever. The transformative power of mutual love is certainly not new territory as far as romantic novels go. However, the fact that Will is in a wheelchair, and Louisa is one of the more rough-and-tumble, loveable literary leads to come along in awhile, makes this book super charming, and definitely one to read before you see the movie. I more recently read the book “After You,” which is the sequel to this book, and it was excellent, too. These books seem like fast simple reads on the surface, but there’s nothing simple about being in a wheelchair or taking care of someone in a wheelchair. So that is what sets these books apart from the pack in a very special way. I love you Lily and am so proud of your independence! To purchase this book on Amazon click here.