After you, by Jojo Mayes

Mayes earlier book, Me before you, was an unexpected delight – what could have been formulaic “chick lit” enlivened by believable characters, a healthy dose of humor, and with a serious issue at its core.  It’s always risky to follow up such a well-loved novel with a sequel so I approached After you with caution.  Although I won’t say that it rises to the level of the earlier book, the quirky characters that were introduced there take on new dimensions.  Louisa is trying to move on with her life, as Will would have wanted, nay, demanded in his way.  But it is hard.  She attends a grief support group called the Moving On Circle. After she runs through the money Will left her, she’s found work at an airport bar with a grumpy manager and an Irish theme that requires her to wear a scanty green dress and Irish dancer’s wig of bouncing curls.  She’s drinking a bit too much and while not totally sober manages to fall off the roof of her apartment building and seriously injures herself.  Then an unexpected connection to Will appears and her life becomes even more complicated.  This book is a bit more like chick lit but still worth reading on its own merits.  You’ll particularly enjoy the feminist awakening of Lou’s conventional mother, her befuddled dad, and the two teens, Lily and Jake, who connect Louisa to her past and her future.  352 pp.