Ponder Post: The Girl You Left Behind

Yesterday I forced my self to finish reading The Girl You Left Behind ©2012 by Jo Jo Moyes.  As I considered what to write about it in this ponder post, I idly perused the back of the book jacket – filled with praises. But on closer inspection I realized that those praises were for Me Before You ©2012, an excellent book by the same author, but more relevantly not this novel. I completed this novel with the optimism that it would get better, based on the reputation of the author and other books by her that I had liked. But I fear it did not get better. I conclude now that I disliked this novel and am sorry I devoted my time to reading it. It was depressing. I prefer to read for entertainment, not angst.

The novel is set in two time periods, the first being World War I in France. It is very demoralizing to be placed in  a small town in the French countryside during its German occupation. Conditions are horrible and the treatment of the residents is even worse. A key character in the story is The Girl You Left Behind – no, not a person, but rather an oil painting of a person. But the painting is given attitude and attributes as if it were the embodiment of the woman, Sophie, who posed for it. Sophie is separated from her husband Édouard, who she deeply adores, by the trappings of war. It was her husband, an artist who studied under Matisse in Paris, who devotedly created this likeness of her. She longs to be reunited with him and is desperate to do anything to achieve that goal. It is this painting that is the link to the second time period of the story.

Fast forward to present day in London. The painting is hanging on the wall of a sleek, glass enveloped house of award winning architectural design. Sunshine beams through the walls in the day and stars twinkle through the transparent, retractable roof at night. I think, "Ahh, a beautiful setting in which to be immersed - such a welcome contrast to the first part of the book." The pleasure is short lived. Inside lives a young, lonely, grieving woman, widow of the architect who designed and built the home. More angst.

The mystery the book attempts to unveil is the story of how the painting came to be where it is. Was it legitimately transferred or unjustly obtained through wartime seizures? Establishing the link revealing the provenance of the painting is weakly and painfully-slowly unveiled. I wanted to know the answer, but upon finishing the novel, I concluded that finding out had not been worth my effort.

In contrast, you can read a very positive review of the book by the Washington Times in November of 2013. The reviewer John Greenya stated, "By the end, The Girl You Left Behind had become not just a picture-perfect historical novel, but also a true mystery-thriller. And I no longer cared how many romance novels Ms. Moyes had written."

Here is an image of Henri Matisse and one of his paintings Purple Robe and Anemones. I might guess that the painting of Sophie titled The Girl You Left Behind might look something like this work of Matisse.

Maybe so, maybe not; but frankly I do not care. Even this artist and subject look bored. But do not take my word for it. Maybe I am merely a shallow romance-oriented kind of gal.