19. After You
Rating: ☆☆☆1/2
Recommended by:
Author: JoJo Moyes
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Humor
Info: 400 pages, published September 24, 2015
Format: Audio Book
Summary
After You is the sequel to the best-selling book Me Before You, a tearjerker that I thoroughly enjoyed. The sequel catches up with Louisa “Lou” Clark, coping with the aftermath of the death of Will Traynor, the invalid she fell in love with after caring for him during the last six months of his life.
Lou is working a menial job as an airport barmaid and struggling to live her life without Will. She ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group and discovers a new love interest in paramedic Sam Fielding, a strong, sensitive almost perfect man. Along the way she develops a bond with Will’s daughter whom he never knew about.
Quotes
“There’s only one response (to losing someone). You Live. You throw yourself into everything and try not to think about the bruises.”
“That’s life. We don’t know what will happen. That’s why we have to take our chances when we can.”
“Life is short, right? We both know that. Well, what if you’re my chance? What if you are the thing that’s actually going to make me happiest?”
“You learn to live with it, with them. Because they do stay with you, even if they’re not living, breathing people any more.It’s not the same crushing grief you felt at first, the kind that swamps you, and makes you want to cry in the wrong places, and get irrationally angry with all the idiots who are still alive when the person you love is dead. It’s just something you learn to accommodate. Like adapting around a hole. I don’t know. It’s like you become … a doughnut instead of a bun”
“You don’t have to let that one thing be the thing that defines you.”
“Mum, you’re not going to get divorced, are you?” Her eyes shot open. “Divorced? I’m a good Catholic girl, Louisa. We don’t divorce. We just make our men suffer for all eternity.” She waited just for a moment, and then she started to laugh.”
“None of us move on without a backward look. We move on always carrying with us those we have lost. What we aim to do in our little group is ensure that carrying them is not a burden, something that feels impossible to bear, a weight keeping us stuck in the same place. We want their presence to feel like a gift.”
“No. Really. I’ve thought about it a lot. You learn to live with it, with them. Because they do stay with you, even if they’re not living, breathing people anymore. It’s not the same crushing grief you felt at first, the kind that swamps you and makes you want to cry in the wrong places and get irrationally angry with all the idiots who are still alive when the person you love is dead. It’s just something you learn to accommodate. Like adapting around a hole. I don’t know. It’s like you become . . . a doughnut instead of a bun.”
My Take
I really liked Me Before You and was, for the most part, satisfied with this sequel. The character of Lou Clark is so likable and endearing that it was a pleasure to spend some more time with her. Jojo Moyes also does a good job of exploring difficult necessity of picking up the pieces of your life after losing a loved one and moving on while not forgetting. Read Me Before You first and then pick up this well done sequel.
