Book 100 of 2012: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
This is my hundredth book read in 2012, so I'm glad, in an obsessive compulsive round-number way, that such a wonderful book should move me into treble figures. Found via a review in a glossy magazine, the blurb tempted me into downloading the ebook there and then. And I wasn't disappointed. History, romance, humour and a satisfying - if unbelievable - ending, all in one story. I haven't put my Kindle down all weekend.
In 1917, Sophie LeFevre is living with her sister and family in northern France, helping to run the hotel where she was born. Sophie's husband Edouard, a talented artist, is away at war, along with her sister's husband. The part of France where they live is under German occupation, and when a new enemy officer requisitions the hotel for his troops, Sophie has no choice but to comply. Her neighbours grumble and start rumours about the special preferences shown to Bessette family at Le Coq Rouge, but Sophie knows where she stands - until the officer starts to show more than a passing interest in a portrait of Sophie painted by her husband, and then in Sophie herself. Labelled as a collaborator, Sophie turns to the German officer with a dangerous plea for help. But what became of Sophie, 'the girl you left behind'? Nearly one hundred years later, a young widow holds the answer to half of the puzzle - a portrait of a vibrant young woman, bought by her late husband as a wedding present - and an unlikely twist of fate leads her to seek out the truth about Sophie LeFevre.
I love how the two halves of this story, past and present, are mirrored so perfectly, yet the individual narratives of Sophie and Liv also stand alone and apart. Sophie's account is truly haunting, describing the deprivation and despair experienced in occupied France, while filling the reader with admiration and sympathy for Sophie. Some novels written in the first person sound like exercises in creative writing, but Jojo Moyes uses the personal perspective to really bring Sophie to life, with all of her faults and fears. She is brave, but also foolhardy, and I wanted to shake her sometimes, for never backing down. Liv's story is more of a traditional chick lit romance, with the hard-won hero, eccentric friends and comfortable lifestyle, but no less enjoyable for that. I thought the contrast of sadness and silliness would be jarring, but the two women complement each other. Liv's grief, living alone in the glass house designed by her unforgettable late husband, is somehow no less real than the high drama of Sophie's day to day existence, and I grew attached to both of them.
I was a bit disappointed by the barrage of unlikely coincidences towards the end - hidden journals, surprise appearances - but realise that ultimately, this is chick lit, where every unlucky in love heroine deserves a happy ever after, so decided to go with the flow. Sophie and Liv would probably face far darker fates in real life, but I didn't mind having all the loose ends tie up into a big pink bow when reading such a well-written and emotional fairytale like this.
Recommended for readers of historical fiction (especially WW1) and really good chick lit (which does exist!)