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The Girl You Left Behind

August 21, 2013 by Jennifer

5M4B disclosure

thegirlyouleftbehindThe Girl You Left Behind is the 3rd novel by JoJo Moyes that I’ve read, and she’s a strong three for three (Read my reviews of The Last Letter from Your Lover and Me Without You).

The Girl You Left Behind is a painting, and a person (well — two people, but we’ll get to that later). We first meet Sophie Lefevre in 1917 France. Her husband Edouard is serving the French military in the first World War, and she has been left behind in the village of St. Peronne, which is now occupied by the Germans. Because she lives in the hotel her family ran before the war, the Germans order Sophie and her sister Helene to cook the officers dinner each night. They don’t want to, and fear what it will mean for their reputation in town, but they have no choice. And the leftovers from the food supplies help keep them and their younger brother, and Helene’s children well.

The Kommandant takes interest in the painting that hangs in the hallway of The Girl You Left Behind. Reluctantly, he and Sophie become friends, mostly over his appreciation of the painting, which Edouard, who trained under Matisse, painted of Sophie before they were married.

Flash forward almost 100 years, and we meet Olivia Halston. The painting was a wedding gift from her husband. But she too has been left behind, when he died suddenly four years before. When Olivia is sued by the Lefavre family to get it back under the Geneva convention, she looks into Sophie’s life to try to figure out what happened. Olivia feels like the painting belongs with her, like she truly understands her, and she also feels as if The Girl is the only person who understands her and doesn’t want to let her go.

The characters, the two different settings, the painting — they all come together to create a story that I loved reading.

Win it!

The giveaway is closed.

  • The winner of another JoJo Moyes book Me Before You is #2, Jennifer.
  • The winner of Flash Kids workbooks is #9 Liz.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Filed Under: Fiction, Historical, Jennifer

« The Passion of the Purple Plumeria
The Whole Enchilada #Giveaway »

Comments

  1. rhond says

    August 21, 2013 at 12:21 am

    Huge fan would love to read this book.

  2. Jenna Evans says

    August 21, 2013 at 5:20 am

    I’ve been wanting to read this author’s books since they sound so interesting and right up my alley. This one sounds great too!

    • Jennifer says

      September 4, 2013 at 8:03 am

      You won this one, Jenna! Congrats. Please reply to this email notification with your shipping address.

  3. Melissa Mc says

    August 21, 2013 at 11:20 am

    Love WWI historical fiction!!
    Would love to be entered in the giveaway.

  4. Dorinne says

    August 21, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    I’d love to win a copy of this!

    • Jennifer says

      September 4, 2013 at 10:53 pm

      You won! Please reply to this email notification with your shipping info, and I’ll have a book sent to you.

  5. Cindi says

    August 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    I adored her first two books and would enjoy
    reading this one also…I like how the time period
    started out very early and then moves forward!
    Many thanks, Cindi

  6. Liz says

    August 21, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    Your description makes this sound like a book well worth reading. Please enter my name.

  7. Diane says

    August 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    Definitely a novel that would be compelling and special.

  8. pearl says

    August 21, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    thanks for this great book which interests me very much.

  9. Sharon Moore says

    August 21, 2013 at 3:14 pm

    I can’t wait to read this!

  10. Cindy Brooks says

    August 21, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    I’m looking forward to reading one of JoJo’s books. I keep reading great reviews!

  11. Angie Kniery says

    August 21, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    I can’t wait to read it!!

  12. Jessica Tan says

    August 22, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    Looks like a good read!

  13. Beth C says

    August 23, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    This is a book I would certainly enjoy.
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

  14. Anita Yancey says

    August 26, 2013 at 8:48 am

    Sounds like a great story. I would love to read it. Thanks for this chance.

  15. Liz says

    August 27, 2013 at 3:18 pm

    Oooh, this sounds great!

  16. Angie says

    August 29, 2013 at 11:59 am

    This sounds like a great read!

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