The Girl You left Behind by Jojo Moyes - live webchat 11 December 1-2pm

Message deleted by Gransnetfor breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Reported as spam

I don't know, mishap perhaps he was just a decent man, caught up in the inhumanity of war. Would you have been as sceptical if he had been British? I think the concept of the "good" enemy is a valid one.
The fine line between collaboration and making the best of the situation , especially when you have no alternative was also good. Cf Dominion the new book by CJ Sansom, I think it shows how we in Britain might have behaved in a very similar way without necessarily sharing the political views of the oppressor.
I for one would not have had the courage to "stand up" to an invading army and I suspect I am not alone, but would have kept my head down and tried not to draw attention to myself. The treatment of some suspected collaborators has always seemed somewhat self righteous to me - it's easy to be principled after the event.

Yes - I agree that the kommandant was representative of the majority, being a "decent man, caught up in the inhumanity of war" - but I still found it hard to accept the idea that he might try and effect a reunion between Sophie and Eduarde by putting them at huge risk on their journey and giving them no assurance that this was the aim in view.

Jojo, thank you, I really enjoyed the book. I thought you captured the feeling of the occupied village really well and the way that the people behaved and acted was believable in the circumstances. Like others I thought the Kommandant's effort to reunite Sophie with her husband was slightly incredible, but the narrative was strong enough to carry it off. I live in an old French farmhouse that was lived in by German soldiers during the war and often wonder about their lives here. (If walls could talk etc).
Two questions:
In the first part of the book I found myself thinking about Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Although that is a completely different story and a different war, I wondered if that book had also been in your mind when you were writing about the sympathetic officer from the army of occupation?
I was intrigued by the novella about Liv's honeymoon. This gave a different impression of her marriage and made me think again about her character and actions. Was that your intention or was it meant to be seen almost as a separate story?

I found the passage where Sophie was washed by Helene very poignant and moving. It was written with a "light touch" and the lack of any conversation between the two sisters until Helene says "Oh Sophie, what have you done?" (almost as if to herself rather than actually directed at Sophie as a question) was sublime.

I could also identify with the way that Liv began each day with a run in order to block out aspects of grief. Although I didn't take up running dring my own bereavement, I can so clearly remember the feeling of waking up and for the first minute feeling "normal" and then the weight of remembering, almost tangible.

Aurelien is an important character in the first part of the book. His disloyalty meant that Sophie’s reputation in the town was lost forever. Were you tempted to keep him in the story and write an ending for him that would have evened the score?

Sorry. I didn't type that nonsense after the word Sophie.

I too need to apologise, as my post wasn't actually a question!

I understand you have a young family. How do you comine small children and writing?

Do you have a particular interest in the WW1 (ie did it predate this book) or was it something that came up for this particular story?

Is Jojo short for Joanna? or Joanne? Or Josephine? Who shortened it and when (I have a friend called Jojo)

GeraldineGransnet

Jojo will be joining us for a live webchat to discuss our book club choice, The Girl You Left Behind. Add your question here.

test

Which of your books (so far) do you like the best? I have seen authors asked this before and they always say either the last one or the one they are working on now. Same for you?

floribunda

I understand you have a young family. How do you comine small children and writing?

With difficulty! At the moment I get up at 6am and write before they go to school, just to guarantee a few hundred uninterrupted words. But I squeeze it in wherever I can. I came here on the train today with my laptop.

milliesmum

Do you have a particular interest in the WW1 (ie did it predate this book) or was it something that came up for this particular story?

I didn't have a particular interest in that period, MilliesMum, but I found that the more I read about it the more fascinated I became. What I thought would be the toughest part of the book to read actually became the easiest. And if you're interested, I'd recommend Helen McPhail's The Long Silence, which I read avidly for research.

I have only recently come to your books and love them. I see you have written quite a few. How long does it take you to write a novel?

zeezaa

Which of your books (so far) do you like the best? I have seen authors asked this before and they always say either the last one or the one they are working on now. Same for you?

Hi Zeezaa. I have a very soft spot for Me Before You as it seemed to catapult me into a new level of publishing. It was also the easiest book I've ever written, in terms of the characters just 'coming' to me (if that doesn't sound horribly pretentious). But I also love a book of mine that hardly sold a thing, called Silver Bay. The last chapter still makes me cry - and I wrote it!

I loved the scenes in occupied France: they felt very atmospheric. Did you go and research the area? Did you have a particular village in mind when you were writing?

getmehrt

I have only recently come to your books and love them. I see you have written quite a few. How long does it take you to write a novel?

Hi Getmehrt (great name!)
They usually take me around a year. The Girl You Left Behind took slightly longer, because I decided to delete 70,000 words of it once I'd finished, and rewrite them. I wouldn't be in a hurry to do that again!

distaffgran

I loved the scenes in occupied France: they felt very atmospheric. Did you go and research the area? Did you have a particular village in mind when you were writing?

Hi distaffgran - and thank you. I did go and research the area. But St Peronne is really an amalgam of lots of villages in northern France. It is a weirdly atmospheric area. I find it impossible to drive around there - past those huge open fields - without echoes of the first world war seeping in.

Your male characters are very warm and sympathetic and believable. Do you find it as easy to write male as female characters?

merlotgran

Aurelien is an important character in the first part of the book. His disloyalty meant that Sophieâ??s reputation in the town was lost forever. Were you tempted to keep him in the story and write an ending for him that would have evened the score?

Hi Merlotgran

I was tempted to wreak revenge on Aurelien. But I think he suffered enough. He was alienated from his family and probably suffered huge guilt afterwards, especially as he wouldn't have known Sophie's actual fate. I think he was put in a very difficult position for a hormonal adolescent boy - not to excuse his actions, but one of the things I love about writing is making people three dimensional. They don't always do the right thing, but they will believe they are doing it for the right reasons. I think Aurelien is one of those people.

Your books have always done well but the last couple have been really very successful. Do you think you just hit your stride or did something else change?