Still Me

Still Me by Jojo Moyes             Audio Book 13 hours, 30 minutes      Paperback Book:  608 pages                      

I love the writing style of Jojo Moyes.   As I have said before, her writing style is so like another of my favorite writers, Sophie Kinsella, that it is a real treat to settle in with one of Jojo’s stories because the mental ride she takes you on is always enjoyable just like Sophie’s.    This story has English woman, Louisa Clark taking a position with the Gopnik family as Mrs. Gopnik’s personal assistant (ie. personal go-for).    The Gopnik family is incredibly rich.   The current Mrs. Gopnik is Mrs. Gopnik #2, a Polish immigrant who prior to her marriage was a massage therapist.    She is looked down upon by Mr. Gopnik’s other family members, particularly his daughter by his first marriage who thinks wife #2 is a gold digger.    Mr. Gopnik’s friends from the country club, from all the charities he is involved with etc.  have all taken sides and they are aligning with Mrs. Gopnik #1.     Lots of slurs,  hurtful things, and outright slights are constant rude reminders that Mrs. Gopnik #2 is perceived as a tramp for breaking the marriage up.   There is so much more to her story than that, though, and Louisa becomes more than her assistant, she becomes her friend, her confidant and her ally against all the negativity she has to put up with.   Louisa takes her job so seriously in puts herself in jeopardy – way more storyline there, too.    A good story.   There is a lot of history you will learn about Louisa’s life, too, which answers a lot of questions as to why she is there and what has happened in her life to make her the person she is.    Funny asides is the wicked tempered neighbor with the pug that thinks he is a pit bull,  the doorman who  teaches her how to use two fingers to whistle really loud for a taxicab and his social activist wife who enlists Louisa to help her protest to save a library and the gnarly (check your urban dictionary for surfer dude speak) group of friends, co-workers and potential business partners, like  the sisters in SoHo with the great vintage designer label clothes shop and Louisa’s love interests that round out Louisa’s New York lifestyle experience.    Louisa learns her way around New York like a native and there are loads of info on places she goes that make you want to take notes for that one day when you go to New York to see all the places and do all the great things she does.    So much goes on throughout this story that this is another of those books you won’t want to put down.    Excellent story.   Rave review for you, Jojo.