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bookishlifeofbrie 's review for:

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
4.0

I really, really liked this book. I'm not sure I've ever read anything about German occupation during WWI...and truthfully, I wasn't even aware how prominent the German occupation was during that war. I always assumed that only happened during WWII.

This is the story about two women, separated by almost a century. In the first part of the book, we learn about Sophie, a young woman living in a small town in France during the first world war. She is running the hotel there, along with her sister. Of course, much like would have happened in the second world war, their hotel is taken over control by the German soldiers that have invaded her small town. Much to their towns-people's dismay, the sisters have no choice but to do as the German's say. (I felt there were a lot of similarities here with The Nightingale - but not in a bad way!). Of the few possessions that Sophie still owns, is a painting of herself that her beloved husband painted of her before the war started. This painting of course, becomes a hot topic of discussion between herself and the German commanding officer who has taken over her hotel.

Fast forward to (almost) present day and we meet, Liv. Liv lives in England and is the present owner of the aforementioned painting. While her husband and her were on their honeymoon in Paris some ten years ago, they were gifted the painting by the daughter of the woman who had owned it (who had since passed on). That painting meant everything in the world to Liv after her husband passed away.

At first, I just wanted to keep reading about Sophie. I didn't want to switch stories and learn about a whole new character and her backstory, and I wasn't sure how Moyes' was going to bring these two stories together in an interesting way. But she did, and I wasn't disappointed. During WWI, we learn that Sophie will do anything to ensure her husband's safety, including using her painting to her advantage, and in present day, Liv will do whatever it takes to remain the rightful owner of Sophie's portrait.

A story of love, extreme loss, desperation and determination, The Girl You Left Behind was a wonderful book, and I was sad when there were no more pages to turn.