The Girl You Left Behind (edition 2012)

Another triumph from Jojo Moyes, a really sad but ultimately uplifting book. Her characters are so believable straightaway, and the links between the two time periods work really well without being spelt out to you. I wish I could create characters like this! ( )

I always enjoy a book about the war and, as I didn't read the blurb on this one, I was pleasantly surprised. I was a little concerned, when the setting switched to present day, that I wouldn't find out what happened to Sophie but, I needn't have worried as the ending was quite satisfactory! ( )

5/5 stars

St Péronne 1916 ..

Sophie Lefèvre and her sister Hélène run the bar of Le Coq Rouge in the French St Péronne during German occupation. Their husbands are away fighting in the war. A portrait of Sophie painted and gifted to her by her artist husband hangs in the bar. The German Kommandant requisitions their bar to provide meals for the German soldiers. The Kommandant extends small concessions to the sisters such as leftover food and he increasingly becomes obsessed with the portrait and perhaps taken with Sophie herself. When Sophie is observed dancing with the Kommandant on Christmas Eve she quickly becomes the object of rumor and scorn from her family and the townspeople. Sophie maintains that she has only done what she has done for the benefit of these others. After pleading with the Kommandant for his help in being reunited with her husband who is reportedly a prisoner of war a chain of events are set in place that sees Sophie forcibly taken away by German soldiers ...

London 2006 ...

Liv Halston is living alone in the magnificent " glass house" built by her architect husband David. Her prize possession a portrait - " The Girl you Left Behind" bought for her by David hangs in their bedroom. It is the anniversary of her husbands death and Liv decides to get out of the loneliness of the house ending up drunk at a gay bar where she meets Paul McCafferty and her handbag is stolen. What follows is a twist of fate where Paul who works for a company that specializes in locating and restituting art stolen during the World Wars to its rightful owners realizes that his latest project just happens to involve the portrait hanging in Liv's bedroom.

My Thoughts

I really loved this book. It's one of the books I have most enjoyed this year. I particularly liked the first half of the book set during WW1 - German occupation of France. Sophie is my favourite character in the book - she is an intensely loyal and determined woman and her conflicted interactions with the Kommandant are masterfully portrayed.

The modern day element of this book, although not as alluring to me as the historical, was really a love story - or three. Liv and Davids love story, Liv's love of the painting The Girl You Left Behind as a symbol of her and David's love, and finally the blossoming love affair with Paul.

Probably the most interesting aspect of this book for me was the legalities of restoring the confiscated / stolen artwork to its rightful legal owners - even if it had at some time later been legitimately purchased or gifted. I was really unaware that this was an issue post war and as a result of this book I plan to read more about this topic.

This was my first book by Jojo Moyes but it most definitely wasn't my last and I highly recommend it.
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I love jojo moyes. she just never disappoints! Loved very page. Cleverly written ( )

I loved this book and gobbled it up in one sitting. Now I need to revisit it and digest it in more detail. ( )