Still Me by Jo Jo Moyes

 

"I thought about how you're shaped so much by the people who surround you, and how careful you have to be in choosing them for this exact reason, and then I thought, despite all that, in the end maybe you have to lose them in order to truly find yourself."

        - Louisa, from the novel

Apparently, this is the most recent novel in a trilogy involving Louisa Clark, quoted above. Our Page Turners group read the first one, Me Before You and liked it. Somehow, I missed the second installment, After You, so I guess I will need to fill in the gap one of these days.

In this novel, Louisa has found a new love---she refers to him as Ambulance Sam. But looking for adventure outside her comfort zone, she moves to New York City where she has accepted a job with a very wealthy but dysfunctional family. She is hired to be an assistant to Agnes Gopnik, much younger trophy wife of Leonard Gopnik. She wants to maintain the relationship with Sam but it turns out to be much harder than it seemed. 

In trying to discover who she really is, Lou experiences ups and downs, including homesickness, flirtation, betrayal and perceived betrayal. She even gets involved in a protest to save a library and efforts to reunite a family. Lou's story is funny, romantic and poignant, taking the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. I laughed aloud, I got angry, and I even got a bit teary at one very touching scene. I do enjoy the British flavor of Moyes' writing and, overall, I enjoyed the book, rating it a 5.