The Girl You Left Behind

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We sat there in silence, his words ringing in our ears. Then Hélène grabbed her skirts and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I hadn’t seen her move so fast in months. I glanced at them. I gave a slight nod. I did not wish to be seen as grateful for the compliments of Germans. It helped that another one of this author’s books, Me Before You, is one of my all-time favorites and I’ve been meaning to try more of her books for a while so that was a huge part of why I decided to try this one. Actually, this book would make a great Book Club read if anyone’s looking for something like that — there are so many possible interesting discussion topics within the story. The last I received from my eldest son came nearly three months ago. They were pushing forward toward Cambrai. Spirits good, he said.” Germans did not visit our bar, except for requisitioning. They used the Bar Blanc, at the top of the town, which was larger and possibly friendlier. We had always made it very clear that we were not a convivial space for the occupying force. I wondered what they were going to take from us now. If we had any fewer cups and plates, we would have to ask customers to share.

I could taste that cheese. I was going to have a mouthful of Reblochon, smear it on a hunk of that warm bread, then pop a grape into my mouth. I could already taste the intense sweetness, smell the rich aroma. Pah. There is no guarantee that the Boche won’t be marching down the Champs-Élysées before long. And besides, I could not leave Hélène alone here.” Part II does include a few stolen moments of the life of Sophie from Part I, but I wanted more. The heartbreaking and intense life of this couple separated by war truly deserved more attention than their story got. Egan, Elisabeth. "Daring, Determination, and ' The Girl You Left Behind'." Rev. of The Girl You Left Behind, by Jojo Moyes. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

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The first 35% of the story is about Sophie, the woman in the painting called “The Girl You Left Behind”. Living in a small German-occupied French village during World War 1, she does her best to survive and keep her family safe. Her character fascinated me. She was a sharp, intelligent, fearless woman who was like this calm point amid the brutality and chaos surrounding her. I loved reading about her. JoJo Moyes’s novel "The Girl You Left Behind" consists of two stories that revolve around an eponymous painting by the French artist Edouard Lefevre. The subject of his painting is his wife Sophie. When the novel begins, it is 1916, and the Germans have occupied the town of St. Peronne, where Sophie helps her sister and brother tend to the family hotel. Her husband is off at war. The German Kommandant of the area, an educated man, becomes obsessed with the painting of Sophie. Sophie offers herself and the painting to the Kommandant in exchange for getting her husband released from a prison camp in Germany. Unexpectedly, Sophie is arrested by the Germans and is never seen or heard from again.

Hélène and I shared a bed that night, flanking Mimi and Jean. Sometimes it was so cold, even in October, that we feared we would find them frozen solid in their nightclothes, so we all huddled up together. It was late, but I knew my sister was awake. The moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains, and I could see just her eyes, wide open, fixed on a distant point. I guessed that she was wondering where her husband was at that very moment, whether he was warm, billeted somewhere like our home, or freezing in a trench, gazing up at the same moon.

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This is a novel with many tangents, little streams flowing off the main body of water in the way of so many tributaries. It’s a bit like reading a family tree and learning how every one of the main family members fared in life. The secondary characters are all believable and marvelously well-drawn. Here I think immediately of the commandant, but also of Sophie’s siblings, her heroic sister, her doubting Thomas of a younger brother and one fellow resident of Peronne in particular. I am well aware of that. There will be sufficient supplies delivered from early next week. I will expect you to turn out meals suitable for officers. I understand this hotel was once a fine establishment. I’m sure it lies within your capabilities.” We must tell no one,” I said, rinsing them. I felt like a drunk who had suddenly become sober. “This may never happen again. And we must behave as if it did not happen once. If anyone finds out that we ate the Germans’ food, we will be considered traitors.”

Monsieur Armand, the baker, shushed them. “You cannot criticize Madame Lefèvre! We are all their puppets now. Madame Durant, do you criticize me for baking their bread?” Paris, 1916. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, Sophie is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait—painted by her artist husband—a dangerous obsession is born, one that will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision. Almost a century later, Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again.”

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Monsieur Suel must have informed on us. I heard them shouting from my room. They say they’ll take Aurélien if he doesn’t tell them where it is.” In front of their snouts,” said Aurélien, who seemed suddenly to have recovered some of his swagger. “Hah! You held it in front of their snouts!” I stood, wiping my hands on my apron, unsure how to react. “Herr Kommandant.” I kept my face expressionless. This is an astonishing novel which beautifully connects present and past in a tale of war and love.

Liv feels that she cannot go on without the portrait of Sophie—it is that important to her. Do you think a material object should hold such significance? Have you ever loved a piece of art or another object so much that you couldn’t bear to part with it? Désolée,” I said, but I had known this full well. Some mischievous part of me had wished to reduce him, if only briefly, to the status of support corps. Then God save him. God save us all.” The mayor smiled, placed his hat on his head, and stood up to leave. Anyway. This isn't a review of twenty-first century America, so I'll move on. (But don't you kinda wish it was? Not even a little? Got it.) The Girl You Left Behind is the story of Sophie Lefevre who is living in occupied France 1916, and Liv Halston who lives in modern day London 2006. These two women are connected by a painting, a portrait of Sophie painted by her husband Edouard, called "The Girl You Left Behind". This was quite a story, and I honestly think Jojo Moyes is in a class all her own for pulling it off. She did such an amazing job of intertwining their stories, I was completely absorbed in this book, especially Sophie's story.

Your love stories are famously complicated, something many readers can relate to. How do you construct the arc of a romantic relationship?