Some authors become famous for one book; Jojo Moyes became a global phenomenon because of one character. Louisa Clark, the quirky carer at the heart of Me Before You, turned a 2012 novel into a bestseller, a hit film, and a trilogy readers still debate. What follows is her complete reading order, the career history behind the breakout, and what’s actually confirmed about her family, money, and home.
Born: 4 August 1969 · Birthplace: Maidstone, Kent, England · Occupation: Novelist · Notable work: Me Before You · Status: Active
Quick snapshot
- Born 4 August 1969 in Maidstone, Kent (Order of Books bibliography).
- Debut novel Sheltering Rain published in 2002 (Order of Books bibliography).
- Foreign Fruit and Windfallen are the same 2003 novel in different markets (FictionDB author page).
- The Last Letter from Your Lover is dated 2008, 2010, or 2011 depending on the bibliography (Bookreporter bibliography).
- Me Before You (2012) turned a steady career into a bestseller run (Order of Books bibliography).
- The trilogy continues with After You (2015) and Still Me (2018) (Jojo Moyes official books page).
- We All Live Here (2025) is the latest novel, and the official books page lists no 2026 title yet (Jojo Moyes official books page).
- Watch the official site and the publisher’s catalog for the next announcement. (Jojo Moyes official books page)
Ten facts, one through-line: everything before 2012 was an apprenticeship, and everything after it was a phenomenon.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jojo Moyes |
| Born | 4 August 1969 |
| Birthplace | Maidstone, Kent, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genres | Contemporary fiction, Romance |
| Debut novel | Sheltering Rain (2002) |
| Main series | Me Before You trilogy |
| Most famous work | Me Before You (2012) |
| Latest novel | We All Live Here (2025) |
| Notable works | The Giver of Stars (2019), Someone Else’s Shoes (2023) |
What are some of the books written by Jojo Moyes?
Her catalog splits into two eras: the early relationship novels that built her craft, and the post-breakout books that made her a brand. The list below follows the same chronology used in the snapshot above, with disputed dates flagged underneath.
- Sheltering Rain (2002)
- Foreign Fruit, retitled Windfallen in some markets (2003)
- The Peacock Emporium (2004 or 2005)
- The Ship of Brides (2005)
- Silver Bay (2007)
- Night Music (2008)
- The Last Letter from Your Lover (2008, 2010, or 2011)
- The Horse Dancer (2009)
- Me Before You (2012)
- Honeymoon in Paris (2012 or 2013, short prequel)
- The Girl You Left Behind (2012 or 2013)
- One Plus One (2014)
- After You (2015)
- Paris for One and Other Stories (2016)
- Still Me (2018)
- The Giver of Stars (2019)
- Someone Else’s Shoes (2023)
- We All Live Here (2025)
The shape of the catalog matters more than the count: one connected trilogy, one short prequel, and roughly a dozen and a half standalones. Readers who assume every author’s backlist is one long series will overshoot the complexity.
A few dates travel between markets and bibliographies, and it’s worth knowing which:
- The Peacock Emporium is dated 2004 or 2005 depending on the bibliography (The Reading Order’s Moyes guide).
- Night Music shows up as a 2008 title in several complete bibliographies (FictionDB author page).
- The Last Letter from Your Lover shifts between 2008, 2010, and 2011 by edition, as noted in the snapshot above.
- Honeymoon in Paris and The Girl You Left Behind are commonly dated 2012 or 2013; the clarity section below covers why.
Is Me Before You a series?
- Me Before You (2012)
- After You (2015)
- Still Me (2018)
Yes — a compact one. The Me Before You series runs exactly three novels, in the order listed, and the author’s official books page confirms that sequence. It is the only multi-book series she has written.
One caveat: some reading-order sites file Lou in Lockout (2020) as a fourth entry, but it’s a short story, not a sequel novel (Books in Reading Order (reading-order guide)).
In what order should I read Jojo Moyes books?
Short answer: only the trilogy is strict. Me Before You first, After You second, Still Me third — then the rest of the catalog is free territory. Standalones contain no spoilers for one another, so the order is about taste, not continuity.
For a complete chronological checklist from Sheltering Rain forward, The Reading Order’s Moyes guide runs the full publication sequence.
- Honeymoon in Paris before The Girl You Left Behind: the Jojo Moyes official books page places the short prequel first, so read it that way even though both are dated around the same year.
- Everything else: any order, no spoilers, no continuity traps.
If you want strict publication order, start with Sheltering Rain (2002) and move through the bibliography section above. The trilogy still works in that route, because its internal story order matches its publication order.
What is Jojo Moyes’ most successful book?
Me Before You. No other title in her catalog comes close on the combined measures of sales, bestseller runs, film adaptation, and reader recall. It is also the book most new readers search for first, which is why it anchors every reading-order discussion.
Bookreporter (reader-review publication) profiles Moyes as a #1 New York Times bestselling author — and Me Before You is the title that earned that status: it spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted into a major 2016 film.
The film did what print bestseller lists rarely do on their own: it put Louisa Clark in front of audiences who never browse bookstores. That is why Me Before You keeps recruiting new readers more than a decade after publication.
The runner-up in reader discussions is usually The Giver of Stars (2019), her historical novel, while Someone Else’s Shoes (2023) shows her lighter contemporary register. Neither has Me Before You’s film-powered visibility, but both sold well enough to keep her on bestseller lists.
The pattern: one book became the brand, and every later title is read in its shadow. That isn’t a criticism — it’s the commercial reality her newer covers quietly acknowledge.
What is Jojo Moyes’ latest book expected to be released in 2026?
As of late 2025, no 2026 title has been announced. The most recent novel is We All Live Here (2025), and the official books page — cited in the snapshot above — lists nothing beyond it yet. Anyone promising a specific 2026 release date is working from rumor, not from the publisher.
For readers asking whether something new is coming: the next announcement would appear first on the official site and in the publisher’s catalog. That has been the pattern for every Moyes release since Me Before You.
Moyes has published a new novel roughly every one to two years since 2012, so a 2026 announcement would fit her rhythm — but so would a pause; there was a four-year gap between The Giver of Stars (2019) and Someone Else’s Shoes (2023).
The trade-off: readers hoping for a specific title or date are chasing information that doesn’t exist yet. The catalog is the reliable part of her publishing life; the calendar is not.
Who is Jojo Moyes’ current partner?
Her current relationship status is not public record. Moyes has always been candid about her family in broad strokes without putting personal details on book jackets, and recent press coverage names her ex-husband and children but no current partner.
Who is Jojo Moyes’ ex-husband?
- Name: Charles Arthur
- Profession: technology journalist
- Notable byline: The Guardian
Per The Reading Order’s biography page, her ex-husband is Charles Arthur, a technology journalist for The Guardian, and the couple have three children. That marriage and family unit is the last clearly documented chapter of her private life.
Who are Jojo Moyes’ children?
- Three children
- Names and ages kept private
The children come up in interviews only in passing. Moyes does not share their names publicly, which is why no reliable source lists them in detail.
Where does Jojo Moyes live now?
Moyes lives in the United Kingdom, where she was born and where her career is based. The exact town is not part of her public biography, and recent interviews don’t get more specific than the country.
How much is Jojo Moyes worth?
Net-worth figures near $10 million are repeated across celebrity-wealth trackers, but they come from estimation models, not from Moyes or her publisher. Publishers don’t disclose author earnings, and Moyes doesn’t discuss money in interviews — so treat any number as a guess with a dollar sign.
What is verifiable is the commercial footprint behind the estimates: a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a major film adaptation, and a bibliography that runs from 2002 to the present.
Why this matters: the “where does she live and what is she worth” questions are the ones search engines answer worst, because the honest answer is that both are private. The books are public; the bank balance is not.
How to start reading Jojo Moyes: a practical plan
Five steps, from total beginner to completionist, based on how her books actually connect.
- Start with Me Before You. It is the strongest entry point because every other book in her catalog connects to it — as prequel, sequel, or contrast.
- If you want more of Louisa Clark, continue with After You and then Still Me, in that order. The trilogy does not work out of sequence.
- To skip the trilogy, choose by register: The Giver of Stars (2019) for her historical mode, or We All Live Here (2025) for her current contemporary voice.
- For a shorter commitment, read Paris for One and Other Stories (2016) or the Honeymoon in Paris prequel — both work as single-sitting proofs of her style.
- Completionist route: return to the publication list above, close the gaps, and read the remaining standalones in any order. Outside the trilogy, nothing spoils anything.
The trade-off: starting with Me Before You means the rest of the backlist will feel quieter by comparison. That is the price of reading the phenomenon first.
Jojo Moyes life and publication timeline
Eight dates cover the distance from unknown debut to brand name.
- — born 4 August in Maidstone, Kent.
- — Sheltering Rain, her first novel, is published.
- — Me Before You is published and turns her into a #1 New York Times bestselling author.
- — After You, the first sequel, is published.
- — Still Me closes the trilogy.
- — The Giver of Stars, her historical novel, is published (Books in Reading Order (reading-order guide)).
- — Someone Else’s Shoes is published (Bookreporter bibliography).
- — We All Live Here is published.
The pattern: a ten-year apprenticeship, one breakout, then a decade of compounding success — and a 2025 return to the domestic stories that started it.
What’s confirmed about Jojo Moyes — and what’s still unclear
The split below separates what has a paper trail from what is recycled guesswork.
What the record confirms
- Born 4 August 1969 in Maidstone, Kent (Order of Books bibliography, snapshot above).
- Debuted with Sheltering Rain in 2002 (same bibliography).
- The Me Before You series is exactly three novels (official books page, snapshot above).
- She is a #1 New York Times bestselling author (Bookreporter, cited in the most-successful-book section).
- Her most recent novel is We All Live Here (2025) (official books page, snapshot above).
What the record doesn’t
- Current partner: no public confirmation; reliable biographies stop at her marriage and children.
- Net worth: online estimates near $10 million are model outputs, not disclosures.
- Exact residence: the United Kingdom, but the town is private.
- Honeymoon in Paris and The Girl You Left Behind are dated 2012 or 2013 depending on the source (FictionDB author page).
- Paris for One began as a standalone novella before the 2016 collection Paris for One and Other Stories (Books in Reading Order (reading-order guide)).
The ratio is the story: after two decades in print, the confirmed facts about Moyes’s life fit on one screen. Everything else is inference.
What the author and critics say
Two voices frame the argument around her work: the author herself, and the reception machine that turned her into a brand.
“We All Live Here is about the family that lands back in your house and your life — the people you thought you had already left behind.”
Jojo Moyes, PBS Books author interview (2025)
“Jojo Moyes is a #1 New York Times bestselling author.”
Bookreporter, author bibliography
The gap between those two sentences is the whole arc: Moyes talks about family and feeling, the industry talks about bestseller status. Both are true, and both feed the same engine.
Why Jojo Moyes still tops reading lists
The reason her reading order is suddenly a search question again is We All Live Here’s 2025 release, which has pulled a new wave of readers back to a backlist that already had a movie-shaped shortcut. For someone deciding where to begin, the path is clear: start with Me Before You if you want the story that started the phenomenon, pick We All Live Here if you prefer her current voice, and treat the rest of the catalog as open country — because only the trilogy is strict, and everything else is yours to wander.
Related reading: Jojo Moyes books in order guide · Me Before You series
Frequently asked questions
How many books has Jojo Moyes written?
Her bibliography runs from Sheltering Rain (2002) to We All Live Here (2025): more than a dozen novels plus novellas and a short-story collection. Bibliographies differ on how to count retitled editions, but the publication span is roughly two decades of steady output.
What is Jojo Moyes’ writing style?
Contemporary relationship fiction with high emotional stakes. Her narrators are usually women at a turning point, and her tone balances warmth with sharp social observation and a habit of putting an impossible choice in the middle of an ordinary life.
Is Me Before You based on a true story?
No. It is a work of fiction; the Louisa Clark storyline is invented, even though the ethical questions at its center are very real.
Are Jojo Moyes books interconnected?
Only the Me Before You trilogy, along with the Honeymoon in Paris prequel, are connected. Every other novel is standalone, so you can read them in any order without spoilers.
What is the best-selling Jojo Moyes book after Me Before You?
There is no official ranking. Reader communities and bibliographies most often point to The Giver of Stars, her 2019 historical novel, as the next-most-prominent title in the catalog — but no published sales figure settles it.
Where was Jojo Moyes born?
Born 4 August 1969 in Maidstone, Kent, England.
Oliver Jack Carter Cooper is a staff writer for EveningLedger.uk, covering UK news, politics, business and culture. He works under Editor-in-Chief Edward Langley and Managing Editor Charlotte Reeves, following the newsroom standards for sourcing, verification and fact-checking set out in our editorial policies.