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thebookishpersuasion 's review for:
The Girl You Left Behind
by Jojo Moyes
The Girl You Left Behind follows two stories. The book starts with the story of Sophie Lefevre, a woman in German-occupied France during WWI who is running her parents' inn and worrying over her husband, the artist Edouard Lefevre, who is fighting in the war. As Sophie, her sister, and her sister's children fight to survive, a painting Edouard made of Sophie when she was younger attracts the attention of the German Kommandant in charge of their small town. His attention and favor endangers Sophie and she attempts to use it to her advantage when she discovers her husband has been sent to a work camp.
The story then switches to the story of Liv Halston, a young widow who is mired by her grief and who just happens to have the old photo of Sophie Lefevre on her wall, a gift from mher late husband. Liv meets a man named Paul and starts to fall for him until he discovers that her painting of Sophie Lefevre is a stolen painting he's been searching for to return to Edouard Lefevre's family. What follows is a courtroom battle between Liv and Paul as they fight for possession of the painting and the truth of how the German Kommandant got it in the first place.
I loved the first part of the story--Sophie was an engaging and admirable main character and I haven't read many stories based in WWI France. I loved the realistic tension Sophie felt over the Kommandant and her battle to care for her family and protect her dignity at the same time. However, I didn't love Liv and Paul's story. While I enjoyed finding out what happened to Sophie, I could not have cared less about the caricature-esque courtroom battle or Paul and Liv's relationship. If the novel had focused more on Sophie and less on Liv, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
The story then switches to the story of Liv Halston, a young widow who is mired by her grief and who just happens to have the old photo of Sophie Lefevre on her wall, a gift from mher late husband. Liv meets a man named Paul and starts to fall for him until he discovers that her painting of Sophie Lefevre is a stolen painting he's been searching for to return to Edouard Lefevre's family. What follows is a courtroom battle between Liv and Paul as they fight for possession of the painting and the truth of how the German Kommandant got it in the first place.
I loved the first part of the story--Sophie was an engaging and admirable main character and I haven't read many stories based in WWI France. I loved the realistic tension Sophie felt over the Kommandant and her battle to care for her family and protect her dignity at the same time. However, I didn't love Liv and Paul's story. While I enjoyed finding out what happened to Sophie, I could not have cared less about the caricature-esque courtroom battle or Paul and Liv's relationship. If the novel had focused more on Sophie and less on Liv, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.