The Girl You Left Behind

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes was one of the best books I have ever read. Its combination of the past and the present (cleverly linked) and an addictive story line will render you unable to put the book down. Jojo Moyes has an amazing writing style which keeps you hooked until the very last page.

The Girl You Left Behind features two main women, one named Sophie who lives in 1916 in German occupied France (in St Péronne) and one named Liv who lives in 2006 in London. Their very different lives are linked by one factor; a portrait of Sophie that was painted by Sophie's husband Edouard.

Sophie's life is one of struggle and hope. Edouard has already gone to fight at the Front, and now Sophie and her sister Hélene are having to serve Germans in the hotel they run. In St Péronne anyone seen to be positive towards the German oppressors are shunned, so Sophie constantly has to find the balance between being polite yet still hostile to her unwelcome German guests. The German Kommandant becomes fiaxted with Sophies portrait, and his behaivour to Sophie becomes much more friendly. Soon Sophie comes face to face with an option that risks everything, but that could ultimatley reunite her with her beloved Edouard...

Liv's life is one of routine and trying to forget. Her husband is dead after a short marraige, and in that marriage they bought Sophie's portrait. The painting, in many ways, symbolises Liv and her husbands short yet sweet life as a couple. After somehow managing to aquire a new room-mate, and discovering a potential new love, the painting is suddenly revealed as something uch more important than an impulse buy. Liv's new romance is threatened, as is her possession of the painting, and whilst trying to win the fight to keep it, a sisnister and passionate history is revealed...

The blurb of the books says; 'In The Girl You Lef Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most- whatever the cost.'
That one sentence basically summarises the book, but it cannot tell you the power and the emotion of the actual story. You can only discover that by reading the book, which I seriously reccommend you do.

Age: Teenager +
Rating: A full five shiny stars