The main character is
Theo Decker, a 13 year old boy who loses his mother and survives a devastating incident in NY. He is taken in by some wealthy friends
before eventually being taken away and looked after by his feckless father.
The terrible incident
has left some legacies, he helps another injured person who urges him
to take an action that dominates the rest of his life as he
alternates between the criminal underworld and the hallowed world of
antique dealing.
At the centre of this
story is a painting that has a huge impact on his entire life.
The story begins in
occupied France in 1916, Sophie Lefevre runs the local inn while her
painter husband Edouard fights at the front. The occupying forces
descend on the inn for their evening meals and the Kommandant is
taken with a portrait of Sophie, painted by her husband.
The book suddenly leaps
forwards in time to now and the new owner, Liv Halston has to fight
to retain ownership of the painting that is now called “The Girl
You Left Behind”, a treasured gift from her late husband, as it
becomes the subject of a legal fight to return it to the family of
Sophie Lefevre.
