Me Before You – A Question for Jojo Moyes

I confess I had Me Before You in my eReader for a while before I finally was in the mental place to read it. I was urged on by a discussion with my coworkers. When I finally did read it, I read it in one fell swoop, over the course of 1-2 days during the weekend.

I remember a time when I read all the time. At night before I went to bed every day and sometimes throughout the day too. I have fond memories of breaking night in High School and reading books like the Witching Hour by Anne Rice in one night or sitting on a rooftop in Hunter College, or the Central Park Conservatory Garden and reading feminist or political nonfiction.

In light of that it's heartbreaking to think how it seems very hard now to dedicate time to reading at leisurely pace or even finishing a book. I read so many aggregated feeds a day, digest so much data from so many places that sometimes it feels like my head was spinning.

Anyhow, I did enjoy Me Before You, which will be made into a movie. I found it to be both unique and and resonated with me because I once was lost and forlorn very much in the same way. It was entertaining and offered a sense of comfort in both the traditional boy-girl save each other but also heartbreaking in a tragic sense. There was something very poetic about the liberation they both receive at the end of the story.

I was very curious the meaning behind the prominent feature of the biology book, The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley, in the story. You see, this is a book I read in college.

Honestly, it was such a good book that I wish Matt Ridley would go back and write an updated version every couple of years. In Me Before You, the main character "Lou" or "Louisa" is encouraged to read it by her adult charge, who has become a quadriplegic.

Cover via Amazon

If I had the chance to ask Jojo Moyes, I would love to know why the Red Queen has such a noticeble placement in the story and hear the backstory. What did you make of it?

* Full disclore: I received an eGalley for review from the publisher.

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• The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
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• The Witching Hour
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• The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature