The Girl You Left Behind

It's taken me a while to sort out all my feelings about this book.. but I think I'm finally ready to write about it.

The Girl You Left Behind is esentially the story of a painting that is more than a painting to two women.. one past, one present. There's so much going on in this story but to be short:

Sophie is a woman whose husband (Edouard Lefevre) has been forced to fight and been imprisoned by the Germans in WWI. When he and Sophie first met, he painted a picture of her and captured the self that she doesn't seem to know anymore. She holds on to the painting as a reminder of the girl that she once was and the love that she longs to find again. Liv is a woman whose husband bought her the painting on their honeymoon and died a few years later. He said that the girl in the painting reminded him of her, and she holds on to the painting as the last piece of her husband that she has.

Enter the Lefevre family... they want the painting back because they believe it was unrightfully taken from Sophie by the Germans. Liv decides to fight the case, and there is a nasty battle revealing the truth about what actually happened so long ago.

So many historical fiction novels have been written about WWI, but this one is so refreshing and different because it explores the issue of Germans stealing art and the laws that are now in place for the recovery of that art.

Almost the whole first third of the book is dedicated to Sophie's story in Nazi Germany narrated in first person by Sophie.. the Kommandant takes over her hotel and forces her and her sister to cook for them every night. He meanwhile becomes obsessed with her, and she eventually finds a way to use his obsession to get his help in finding and reuniting with her husband. Throughout you learn Sophie's determined, head strong, and protective nature.

Then the book switches to Liv's point of view told in third person... you learn her struggle with loneliness and her longing to overcome the walls that she has built since her husband's death. She and Paul McCafferty begin to build a relationship that the case threatens to destroy.

Liv and Sophie are both extremely well developed characters that you can't help but feel for and hope for. The story seamlessly moves between them and never becomes confusing. There is so much wrapped up in 380-ish pages that the story is never slow but also never rushed. The writing truly is impressive. And the story idea is enlightening. Thank you Jojo Moyes for a fresh perspective on WWI!

There's so much more to say about this book that I just really can't find the words for... you should definitely go read it and you'll see what I'm talking about.