Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

small town, rather than a city, because I live in one myself and I’m fascinated by
the way that growing up in one can be the greatest comfort – and also incredibly
stifling. I wanted a castle because it was the purest example of old money
rubbing up against ordinary people. Britain is still incredibly hide-bound by
class, and we only really notice it when we go somewhere that it doesn’t exist in
the same way, like the US or Australia. I needed the class difference between
Will and Lou to be clear.
4. Me Before You deals with a very sensitive subject matter – a person’s
right to die. Did you find this difficult to write about? What made you
decide to write about this subject?
A few years ago, I heard about the case of Daniel James, a young rugby player
who was paralysed and persuaded his parents to let him go to Dignitas. I was
horrified by this case initially – what mother could do that? – but the more I read
about it I realized that these issues are not black and white. Who is to say what
your quality of life should mean? How do you face living a life that is so far
from what you had chosen? What do you do as a parent if your child is really
determined to die? And living as a quadriplegic is not just a matter of sitting in a
chair – it’s a constant battle against pain and infection, as well as the mental
challenges. So these issues refused to go away. And I do believe you have to
write the book that is burning inside you, even if it’s not the most obvious book
for the market.
In fact, I wrote Me Before You without a publishing contract – and I wasn’t
entirely convinced it would find a publisher, given the controversial subject
matter. It was just something I needed to write. But doing it just for myself was
strangely liberating. And luckily several publishers bid for it when it was
finished, so I was very happy to move with it to Penguin.
5. Your books always have an incredibly moving love story at the heart of
them. What is it about the emotional subject of love that makes you want to
write about it?
I have no idea! I’m not very romantic in real life. I guess love is the thing that
makes us do the most extraordinary things – the emotion that can bring us