Three years after her novel Me Before You left its five-million-plus readers inconsolably weeping over its closing pages,Jojo Moyes released this sequel in response to requests on social media for insights into what happened to Lou Clarke.
In the writing of the screenplay for the film based on the first book,Moyes said to Vanity Fair,"I'm not really interested in girls who buy things; I'm interested in girls who do things."
Yet here is Lou,18 months on from the death of Will,the man she was caring for and fell in love with in the first book,living in a flat she's bought with the money he bequeathed her and doing absolutely nothing
Her bubbly,life-loving attitude has vanished,replaced with an existence filled by a dead-end job at a bad Irish pub at City Airport,a grief therapy group,and drinking wine on the roof of her building,from where she tumbles to meet her new fate.
If Lou initially hopes her fall has left her paralysed,Moyes swiftly rejects her heroine's desire for comfort in suffering as Will did,instead giving Lou a new love interest in the form of paramedic Sam and the possibility of a fresh start in New York.
One of Britain's most popular novelists,Jojo Moyesworked variously as a minicab controller and brochure writer for Club 18-30 before winning a bursary to attend a course in journalism. After a decade as a successful journalist,she turned to writing fiction with her first bookSheltering Rain. She won the hearts of legions of readers with her poignant novelMe Before You,introducing the popular character Lou Clark whose story continues in the follow-up novelsAfter YouandStill Me.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9781405909075Number of pages: 448Weight: 310 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 27 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"A tender,funny and hopeful look at love,grief and life. Bumper box of tissues required." - Stylist
"With its twisty plot,characters you fall in love with,weepy bits and witty bits,this is pretty much perfect." - Glamour
"We're on classic Moyes territory here - damaged people with complex lives,described with humour and pathos. This sometimes wry,sometimes weepy novel will delight her legions of fans." - The Daily Mail
"Funny,sad and wise,you'll be using a hankie as a bookmark." - Mail on Sunday
With a talent for writing about the everyday in a wonderfully warm and wacky way,Moyes somehow manages to break your heart before restoring your faith in love. After You is unputdownable Sunday Express S magazine
Like her peers David Nicholls and Marian Keyes,possesses the enviable gift of making the reader laugh in the gloomiest of circumstances...After You is most of all about Louisa's journey,a random,bumpy process of accommodation to loss and the fear of starting over...I'm sure there's room for Book Three - I can't wait! Independent on Sunday
Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes was born in 1969 and grew up in London. After a varied career including stints as a minicab controller,typer of braille bank statements for blind people,and brochure writer for Club 18-30,she did a degree at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College,London University. Jojo worked as a journalist for ten years,but became a full time novelist in 2002,when her first book,Sheltering Rain was published. Jojo has won the Romantic Novelist's Award twice,and Me Before You has been nominated for Book of the Year at the UK Galaxy Book Awards.
Visit the Jojo Moyes author page
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