From the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, a sweeping bestseller of love and loss, deftly weaving two journeys from World War I France to present day London. Paris, World War I. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans, Sophie is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From … 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.
Almost a century later in London, 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.
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Love all this author’s books
The ending was too long coming.
Enjoyed this book very much. I liked the perspective of a family in occupied France, forced to serve German soldiers every night in their restaurant, while they themselves went hungry. The mystery of what happened to their prized painting held me enthralled until the very end. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time!!
Read this book. Just read it.
I couldn’t put the novel down for a week just to finish it , I Loved it
I love Jo Jo Moyes. This book, so different from “Me Before You,” is every bit as gripping.
Mary Flynn
I find JoJo Moyes characters so real to me that I think of them for months after reading the book.
This is the story of Sophie Lefrevre during World War I. The Germans have invaded France, and her husband has been taken off to fight. She moves to a small town to help her sister and her sister’s children and run their families hotel and restaurant. The German Kommandant has taken a liking to Sophie and a painting she has kept in her house. It is a painting her husband – an artist – did of her before he left. She goes down a dangerous road with this Kommandant in the hopes she can save her husband, and it leads to her being sent away from her sister.
The other main character in this story is Liv Halston. In Liv’s house hangs this painting of Sophie. She and her husband bought it while on their honeymoon. Now that Liv’s husband has past away, she has become attached to the one last thing that reminds her of her husband. It has been several years since he has done, and a chance meeting of a new guy who brought life to Liv once again leads to trouble with the painting.
This book has its good parts, but the parts with Liv just drove me crazy. The story of WWI and Sophie and her family and their struggles to survive while the Germans were stripping them of everything they own, was well told and intriguing. The story of Liv just didn’t make much sense. She was extremely attached to this painting and when the family comes looking for it – because it was thought to be stolen by the Germans in 1919 – she has a fit and doesn’t want to give it up. She ends up having to sell her house and uses almost all of her money over a painting she bought for $300 10 years ago.
While I understood in the end a BIT where she was coming from, the reality of this is – if you have a painting in your house that was stolen by Germans from people who were held captive and you had a chance to give it back…..you give it back. This part of the story just made me roll my eyes one too many times to make me recommend this book. IT is a shame, really, because like I said – the parts about Sophie were really good.
I really enjoyed this book. It is historical fiction so it is informative as well as a story about dealing with life and the tragic events that did occur during the war.
I loved this even more than Me Before You. It was riveting. It was set in war time WWI France but woven into a realistic London timeline. I found it to be a page turner: heart-tugging, engaging, and beautifully written.
This is one of my favorite books of all time!
OMG! This was my first JoJo Moyes book and I was hooked!! Went on to read three more of her books. Great story. Lovely writing. Completely keeps your interest. Characters are beautifully developed and real.
Excellent, as are all of John’s books. Great read. Captures the reader’s attention.
I have read all of JoJo Moyes books and this one is one of the best though I liked them all with the exception of the sequel to Me Before You. I am a very fussy reader, so if I have read 50 pages or so and don’t like the book, I will drop it. That was not necessary for this book. The two main characters’ stories revolve around the same painting although the women live in different centuries. I love historical fiction especially when the main characters are strong women as are the two women in this book.
I have enjoyed all of the stories in this series.
As with all of JoJo’s book, great characters and a good story like. Will there be another movie?
Good read! Really enjoyed it.
Sad , but entertaining.
I enjoyed this book. It was sad and romantic with an unexpected ending.
Slow getting started and then it hooks you.