What I’m Reading: The Girl You Left Behind

I’ve kind of been on a bit of a spell of “meh” books.  One was okay but didn’t like the narrator.  One I just didn’t like….I needed something good and boy oh boy did I find it!! The Girl You Left Behind: A Novel by Jojo Moyes.  It’s my favorite book I’ve listened to since I read the last Jojo Moyes book Me Before You.

If you haven’t listened to an audio book before and want to give one a try, this is a good one to try.  There are two readers and I loved them both.  The accent is wonderful.  It really made the experience very enjoyable.

Now about the story….
This book tells two stories, one from WWI and one from modern day.  The WWI story is about occupied France in a small village where two young women are running a restaurant that gets taken over by German soldiers.  The women both have husbands fighting in the war and are left to take care of themselves along with a brother and children.

The initial change from past to present was initially abrupt but once I got over that, the change from past to present was okay.

Here’s what Amazon had to say, “Paris, 1916. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, Sophie is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait—painted by her artist husband—a dangerous obsession is born, one that will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision. Almost a century later, Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again.”

Amazon readers say 4.5 stars.  I’m going higher with 4.8.  It is one of the best books I’ve enjoyed in a long time.