NEW RELEASE
The Girl You Left Behind - Jojo Moyes (2012)
Sophie Lefevre and Liv Halston are a lot alike, despite never knowing each other and being separated by a century. Sophie, a World War I victim of the German occupation in France, is willing to do anything at all to keep the things she loves as the Germans move in and take over her small town. As days turns to weeks, then months, Sophie realises that there isn't much she can do and her hopes of being reunited with her husband, Edouard, get slimmer by the day. The thought of never seeing her husband again causes Sophie to do a very dark and twisted thing that she may regret for the rest of her life. Fast forward to the current day, when Liv Halston finally meets the man of her dreams after her husband's death only to find out he wants to take the one thing that matters most to her: A painting called The Girl You Left Behind. The painting means more to Liv than anything else she possesses so to have it stripped from her is unbearable. However, the painting has a violent history that Liv is unaware of and as its history becomes known, Liv becomes public enemy number one. At the end of the day, Liv has to decide if fighting for the painting is worth losing everything else in life - including her second chance at love. This is a poignant novel that tells the story of a little-known piece of history. While I personally thought that Sophie's story was too long and involved in the beginning, I could see why it was so important to tell it in such detail as the story went on. Once again, Jojo Moyes has written a novel that will captivate you and make you laugh, cry and wonder how she makes writing such an amazing story seem so effortless. (AS)
The Girl You Left Behind, by Jojo Moyes, is set in two separate time frames. The summary says: "What happened to the girl you left behind? In 1916 France, Sophie Lefevre must keep her family safe whilst her adored husband Edouard fights at the front. When she is ordered to serve the German officers who descend on her hotel each evening, her home becomes riven by fierce tensions. And from the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie's portrait - painted by Edouard - a dangerous obsession is born, which will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision. Almost a century later, and Sophie's portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before he died. A chance encounter reveals the painting's true worth, and its troubled history. A history that is about to resurface and turn Liv's life upside down all over again . . ." The Girl You Left Behind is out in September.
For fans of Jojo Moyes waiting for her new novel, Honeymoon is Paris is an ebook prequel novella. The summary says: "At the heart of The Girl You Left Behind, are two haunting love stories - that of Sophie and Edouard Lefevre in France during World War I, and, nearly a century later, Liv Halston and her husband David. Honeymoon in Paris takes place several years before the events to come in The Girl You Left Behind when both couples have just married. Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle Epoque Paris but discovers that loving a feted artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications. Following in Sophie's footsteps 100 years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for."