Me Before You: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

2009. Louisa Clark walks home from work as slowly as possible. She arrives at her house to the usual whirlwind of activities, while her mother, Josie Clark, rushes about cleaning the house and her father (Bernard) plays with Thomas, the toddler son of Louisa’s younger sister Treena. Lou (Louisa) says hi to her mom and then sets about getting a glass of water for her Granddad, who has suffered a stroke and can no longer care for himself.

Lou’s mother, Josie, quickly makes Granddad a cup of tea, chattering to Lou about Lou’s boyfriend Patrick. Patrick has called to make further plans for the holiday that he and Lou have planned. Lou reluctantly tells her mother that the holiday probably won’t happen because she has just been fired from her job—the café she works at is closing.

Lou loved working at the café, chatting with the regular customers who came in daily. She especially liked talking to Dandelion Lady, an older woman who spent every morning in the café. She also enjoyed working for her boss, a sweet man named Frank. Yet Frank knows that his small café won’t be able to compete with the larger café coming in at the castle up the road from their small town. He closes the café and gives Lou three months severance pay.

Lou’s mom tries to be optimistic about Lou’s prospects, but Lou’s dad is angry that Lou has been fired after working so hard for Frank for 6 years. Lou knows that her family desperately needs the wages that she brings home, given the precarious state of her dad’s job in the current economic recession. She promises to go down to the job center and get a new job tomorrow.

Lou goes to tell Patrick the bad news while he runs laps at the athletics club. Patrick won’t stop to talk to Lou, so she runs alongside him and tries to tell Patrick how lost she feels now that she is unemployed. Patrick tells her to stop moping around and retrain for a new career, the way entrepreneurs like Jeffrey Archer and Richard Branson did. Yet Lou can’t think of anything she wants to retrain to do.

At the job center, Lou tries out every entry level job she is qualified for. She wears what she calls “civilian clothes” so that she will make a good impression. After the chicken processing factory, the home energy consultant, and the fast food cashier positions do not work out, Lou’s personal advisor, Syed, suggests that Lou try the entertainment industry. Lou likes to wear “theatrical clothing” but she draws the line at becoming an exotic dancer.

Finally, Syed tells Lou that she needs to accept something or she will no longer be eligible for job seekers’ allowance money. Lou desperately wants a job, sick of moping around the house and missing the comforting atmosphere of the café. She daydreams about seeing Dandelion Lady again until Syed interrupts to tell Lou about one more opportunity: care and companionship for a disabled man.

Lou has no experience with caregiver, as Lou’s mom does all the work for Granddad at home, but she knows that she has to try this job because it’s good money. Lou’s dad, Bernard, laughs when Lou tells them, thinking that this poor man had the bad luck to end up in a wheelchair and the worse luck to get Lou as a caregiver.