? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes is a dual narrative novel that takes you back to World War I as Sofie LeFevre recalls her love story with her painter husband Edouard, who eventually leaves to fight at the front. When his letters stop arriving in the post, she finds solace in his painting of her. Struggling with rations and low morale, Sofia and her sister keep the hotel bar open for guests until German soldiers walk in and a new young Kommandant employs them to serve them their meals every day. The Kommandant, an art aficionado, is fascinated by the painting and by Sofie, who uses the presence of the soldiers as a way to gather any sort of news about her husband at the front, despite the disapproval of her village and of her brother who sees her work as treason. Flash forward to 2006, Olivia Halston, the widow of a famous architect, has been looking at the very same painting, lovingly dubbed “The Girl You Left Behind,” every day ever since she was given the painting on her honeymoon by her late husband. Sparks fly when she meets Paul McCafferty, and as their relationship grows she realizes that he works in a law firm that specializes in reclaiming art, and her painting is on their list. This novel is an engaging page-turner that jumps from the war front to the court-room, and is sure to keep you reading as you travel through time to discover the fate of the painting.

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