By Jojo Moyes

“Conned any other women out of their valuables lately ?” she says quietly, so quietly that only he will hear it.
“Nope. I’ve been too busy stealing handbags and seducing the vulnerable.”
Her head shoots up and his eyes lock on hers. He is, she sees with some shock, as furious as she is.”

**spoilers**

As well-written and compelling as some parts of this book were, it took me well over a month to get through it. I chose to do other things rather than return to it. I looked at a lot of movies and some TV series. Plus Christmas. But the main reason was that I was just so utterly disgusted by the behavior and choices of the present-day main character in the novel, Liv. And her travails take up most of the book. I just wanted to avoid her because she just made me mad. The story of the WWI character, Sophie, was very tense and involving throughout her story. But I felt like she was on a path that was as disastrous as it was inevitable. So I can’t say I enjoyed it, exactly. I cared about her greatly, and we leave her at a cliffhanger in her life to begin the modern-day half of the story. Not my favorite device. On the whole, I can recommend the book because although the last part of the book was dragged out, it ended well and with a surprising game-changing appearance at the end. The unsurprising long-suspected truth about the provenance of a painting that links the past with the present is dramatically and touchingly revealed.

In this dual timeframe plot, we begin in a small village in France during WWI. We follow Sophie LeFevre who, with her family, runs an inn that has been taken over by the German occupiers. Her beloved husband, a talented artist is a prisoner of war. The powerful Kommandant is a refined gentleman and art lover who covets Sophie’s husband’s painting of her that hangs in the Inn. And it becomes evident that he also covets Sophie.

Part two is set in 2006 London. The painting, The Girl You Left Behind, now hangs in a young widow’s house which was designed by her husband, a brilliant and famous young architect. Liv cherishes the beautiful painting for its own sake but also because her husband David gave it to her on their honeymoon. Reclusive Liv is still grieving David after 4 years and knows she must get on with her life, but seems incapable of doing so. We also are introduced to Paul, who is a lawyer specializing in returning stolen Nazi art to their rightful heirs. Liv meets Paul, also a single father, when he chivalrously rescues her from an embarrassing situation. They are attracted to each other and Liv is continually struck by what a kind and good man he is. Thanks to Paul, Liv starts to come out of her shell and live again. On Paul and Liv’s first night together he sees her painting hanging in her bedroom and is shocked to the core. It is the same painting he and his company have been trying to locate for their clients, the descendants of the artist, Sophie’s husband. What follows is a court case with Paul and the heirs on one side and Liv on the other. Her lawyers are non-entities who we don’t get to know. This was one reason that the courtroom drama which should have been compelling, wasn’t.

As I mentioned, Liv all but ruined the book for me. She is determined to keep the painting because it’s hers, god damn it. Her husband bought it in good faith and she loves it. She doesn’t care that all signs indicate that it had been stolen from the artist’s family during World War I and was probably also caught up in the Nazis’ evil web of stolen art during WWII. The family understandably wants the painting, now worth millions, back. Liv irrationally blames Paul treating him like a criminal who is trying to rob her of her painting instead of a good guy trying to do an honorable job. Her behavior to him was just shabby and made no sense. Until near the end of the book, that is, when she decides she needs a booty call. That over, she turns on him again. She will not see reason from anyone who has her best interests at heart and in fighting the family’s claim, loses her house, her friends, her reputation, and most sadly, her dead husband’s legacy and reputation. I kept hoping for growth, change, and wisdom to descend on her from the blue, but was continually disappointed.

When she finally has somewhat of an epiphany (pretty much out of nowhere), it is too little too late. When the true story of the painting comes out thanks only to noble Paul’s heroic efforts, it leads to the revelation that Liv has been in the right all along. Not in her actions and decisions, but only by happenstance and luck. In the end, she gets her totally undeserved happy ending.

What rescues the book plot-wise is that we finally learn what became of Sophie and her adored Edouard. But it’s kind of like a bone the reader is thrown. Even the most potentially fascinating detective work at the end is skipped over even while the mystery leading up to the climax is drawn out way too long. The positives were just not outweighed by the pain, injustice, and sadness in the story.