Jojo Moyes has crafted this brilliant bubble with a story that transcends the page and a bond that tugs at your heartstrings.
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour.
Publisher Penguin Random House NZ
“You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.”
I don’t think I’ve read a love story quite as compelling and heartbreaking as this one. There are so many things I want to say about this story, but more than that, there are so many things that my heart can’t yet comprehend.
“I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to the world, to another human being, as I did at that moment.”
There aren’t enough words to describe how much I adore Lou and her quirky and delightful existence.
From the very first moment she stepped on to the page I was instantly drawn to her and her effable qualities: loyal, compassionate, smart, chatty, insane, cheerful and loving. Lou has limited life experience and is able to see the best in any situation.
With a struggling family life, she takes the opportunity to work as Will’s companion and carer with a handful of nerves and a scoop of optimism.
“I will never, ever regret the things I’ve done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to.”
A well rounded character, Will is a driving force in this story in the sweetest and most insufferable ways.
There isn’t much you can say about him. His life is inextricably changed one fateful day and from then on out he goes through the motions of living without ever feeling alive.
It was sad to read about Will in the early parts of the book but as is sarcasm and his wit started to take on a life of its own in the wake of a budding friendship with Lou, I grew to love him in a new way.
Will and Lou have fast become two of my favourite characters to ever live on the page and on screen and I’m so thankful that Moyes had the patience and the grace to develop such beautifully flawed characters.
There is something inherently soulful about watching two people fall in love and what I really enjoyed about this book – and subsequently the movie – is that there is a journey that happens from the moment they meet to the moment they share their first kiss.
Have you read this book or seen the movie?
Written by Her World’s bookworm and entertainment editor
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