Wednesday, February 7, 2018

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

genre: historical fiction

Sophie has been left behind in her hometown in France when her husband Edouard leaves to fight at the front during The Great War.  With the Germans requisitioning everything in town and her heart aching for her husband, life seems at its lowest.  Then a new Kommandant arrives who sees Edouard's portrait of Sophie and feels enough of a kinship with it that Sophie can no longer hide in the shadows of the occupation, as much more comfortable as that is.  What is Sophie willing to risk to see Edouard again and who can even be trusted when the lines in a war are so clearly drawn?  Edouard's painting is at the circle of this story of love, sacrifice and loss.

I knew nothing about this book, it was recommended to me by I friend so I began it blind.  When I was suddenly thrust from WWI France into the modern day it really tripped me up!  If I'd read any reviews at all I'd know that this was both a historical and a modern story, both of them tied together by Sophie's portrait.  I was fully engaged in the historical piece, all in and having so many ethical questions in my head as I try to imagine myself in her predicament.  I had a harder time loosing myself in the modern story, things felt a bit forced and the modern owner of the painting, Liv just didn't dig her way into my heart like Sophie did.  But, I'm glad I finished it and I liked the resolution enough.  Were there some loose ends and did I have to work a bit to suspend my disbelief?  Yes. But it kept me engaged enough.  3.5 stars.

1 comment:

Jenni said...

Hi Corinne! I just went to an author talk with Jojo Moyes on Monday and she was charming in person. It made me want to read all her books (I’ve only read 4)! I’ll give this one a try too!

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