Me Before You; After You; and Still Me (Trilogy) by JoJo Moyes (2013, 2016, & 2018)

 Me Before You asks the age-old question – Do you love someone enough to let them go? Louisa Clark, 26, is living an exceedingly ordinary life. She lives at home, has a steady boyfriend, and has never ventured beyond the limits of the tiny village in which she was born. Her family members don’t expect much of her and as a result Louisa underestimates herself and her ability to secede at anything.

After Louisa finds herself unexpectedly unemployed, she takes a job as caretaker to Will Traynor, a quadriplegic bound to a wheelchair. Before his accident, Will had lived a huge life - big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel - and now he's pretty sure he cannot live bound to a chair. Louisa accidently discovers Will had attempted suicide previously and the real purpose for her employment in to keep Will from trying again. Louisa becomes determined to help Will find a reason to continue living. Will, on the other hand is frustrate by Louisa's limited ambitions and seeks to expand her horizons.

The book provides a candid picture of the practicalities of Will's situation – the health issues, the unrelenting pain as well delving into each of the characters' reactions to the highly emotional subject of assisted dying.

This is not a book for everyone.

4.2 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon

After You picks up 18 months after Louisa has said goodbye to Will, but she is still struggling with her grief. She now lives in London and had joined a grief support group but still living a small, comfortable life.  A freak accident leads to a new relationship and Louisa also meets Lily; the troubled teenaged daughter Will never knew he had.  Louisa’s life begins to grow as she becomes more and more involved with Lily and finds the courage to risk living and loving again.

Readers might feel the sequel lacks the same emotional punch as Me Before You, but I found it to be a compelling story.  As with its predecessor, all the characters are well developed, and one can’t help but get involved with all of them. But most of all we root for Louisa to discover the life Will wanted for her.

3.73 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon

Still Me finds Louisa living up to the promises she made to Will.  She is living on Fifth Avenue in New York City as the personal assistant to the wife of a very wealthy and powerful man. Louisa is living large, experiencing things she never has before but she misses her boyfriend and her family back home. It is at one of the many high society events she attends that meets Joshua Ryan, a man who evokes memories of her past.

 As in the first two novels, life happens to Louisa and she is forced to start examining what she truly wants in life. By the end of the novel Louisa finally realizes all Will wanted for her was to be true to herself and not a reflection of what others want her to be. Louisa finally finds the strength and courage to be just that.

4.13 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs Mystery #2) by Jacqueline Winspear (2005)

 

Birds of a Feather is the second book in the Maisie Dobbs series.  The 16^th title, The Consequences of Fear, is expected in March 2021. No need to worry about missing the first title as this book does a great job of filling the reader in on Maisie’s extraordinary path to becoming a psychologist and private investigator in London in 1930.

Maisie and her assistant, World War I veteran Billy Beale, have been hired by a wealthy father to locate and return his runaway daughter. It soon becomes apparent this is no simple case when three of the missing heiress’s old friends are found dead. Is there a connection between the woman’s mysterious disappearance and the murders? As Maisie investigates, the narrative sheds light on the medical, economic, social, and psychological ravaging of England's society during and after WWI. In fact, the answers Maisie seeks lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.

Maisie’s reliance on calming the spirit and “feeling” the crime might be a bit much for some readers while others will accept it as Maisie employing all her senses in crime solving. Birds of a Feather is a worthwhile read.

3.96 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney (2005)

 

Named One of The Best Books of The Year by The New York Public Library

A Cosmopolitan New Must-Read

Abbie awakens to learn she had been in a terrible accident five years before and was only revived now because of a huge technological breakthrough. She has no memory of who she is or was before being injured. The man at her side claims to be her husband, the founder of one of Silicon Valley’s most innovative start-ups. He tells Abbie that she is a gifted artist, an avid surfer, a loving mother to their young son, and the perfect wife. He also tells her she is a miracle of science.

As Abbie’s memory starts to return, she finds herself questioning her husband’s version of events. What really happened to Abbie five years ago? I was totally unprepared for the ending.

3.68 stars Goodreads, 4.2 Amazon

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate (2020)

 

Inspired by historical events, List Wingate brings to life the story of three young ladies as they travel from 1875 Louisiana to Texas. Lavinia is the pampered Southern heiress, Juneau Jane is her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister, and Hannie is Lavinia's former slave. Lavinia and Juneau Jane are both seeking their rightful inheritance and Hannie is searching for her mother and eight siblings who were sold to various individuals between the two states. The three discover the book of lost friends; ads that were placed in Southern newspapers by former slaves looking for lost family members. These ads were then read to black congregations by their preachers in hopes that members of freed slave families would recognize relatives and be reunited with them.

The Book of Lost Friends includes actual ads from this time period with some of the ads including information of family members that were reunited through the ads. 

“Colored Tennessean (Nashville), Oct. 14, 1865

 

information wanted of Caroline Dodson, who was sold from Nashville Nov. 1st 1862 by James Lumsden to Warwick, (a trader then in human beings), who carried her to Atlanta, Georgia, and she was last heard of in the sale pen of Robert Clarke, (human trader in that place), from which she was sold. Any information of her whereabouts will be thankfully received and rewarded by her mother,

 

Lucinda Lowery,

Box 1121, Nashville, Tenn.”

 In 1987 Louisiana first-year teacher Benedetta (Benny) Silva, takes a teaching job in rural Augustine, which she thinks is her ticket to canceling her large student debt. Benny is unprepared for the poverty level of her students and struggles to find a way to reach them. She is finally able to do so by having the pupils research and re-enact their ancestors.

As with all dual timeline books the stories of these four women must come together and they do so in a compelling manner. Some readers might have trouble getting into the story but those who love historical fiction from this time period will find it well worth the read.

4.22 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon