Author : Jojo Moyes
Publication date : September 27th 2012 by Penguin
When I first picked up this book, I thought I was getting a typical humorous chicklit book that sets in modern time. I mean the girl in the cover looks like she's holding a laptop to me! I was wrong though and that's the perks of picking a book blindly. You'll tend to get surprises.
The Girls You Left Behind is actually a historical fiction book, if you ask me. It does have some chapters that set in present time, but the historical part of it is more prominent.
Sophie LeFevre, a young French woman was left by her husband, Edouard, to fight for the war. During that time, the German troops asked Sophie and her sister, Helene to cook for them which leads Sophie's conversation to the Kommandant and before she knew it, her life was in the hands of the Germans. Decades later, Sophie's painting was owned by Liv Halston which was gifted by her late husband. The painting brought too much attentions that forced Liv to find out more about Sophie's story.
All right, let me tell you the truth that I only enjoyed the historical part of the book. It has much more intense plot with enough twist and turns and I love Sophie as a character. I could feel her deep love for her husband and the fact that she missed him so much was killing her, hurts me too. You know, I am not into romance, actually but this is the kind of romance I like.
On the other hand, the present time story is extremely boring that I think the book would be so much better without it. The idea is neat actually, but it just doesn't work. The second part of the book feels forced and is lack of depth. While I care so much about Sophie, I can't say the same for Liv Halston. I also found that the romance between Liv and Paul is kind of cheesy and uncool, especially after you've just read the love story of Sophie and Edouard.
I think Moyes should've just made this book purely historical fiction, because gosh, she has the the talent. Maybe the author just didn't want to play safe? Anyhow, the first part was good that you expect the second one be just as cool and you don't get what you expected. It's disappointing!
Now it's time for my favorite quote:
Now it's time for my favorite quote:
"Sometimes," he said softly, "it seems there is so little beauty left in this world. So little joy. You think life is harsh in your little town. But if you saw what we see outside it... Nobody wins. Nobody wins in a war like this."
4 rating for The Girl You Left Behind. I wanted to rate it 3 actually, but since I care so much about Sophie, I decided to give it one more point, just for her. Over to you! Do you like reading book that has war background in it? Do you enjoy reading romance?
