The Day I Left You by Caroline Bishop: A Book Review
18/02/2025
Genre: Historical fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance
Number of pages: 368
ISBN: 9781668047279
ASIN: B0CL5FNMF3
Format: eBook (Kindle), Paperback
Publication date: February 18, 2025
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Type: Novel (Standalone)
A BIG thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book! I receive no compensation whatsoever, and I write this review willingly.
The cover is so pretty and elegant, but I admit it was the title that got me. The Day I Left You, hmmmm, so intriguing, and clearly romantic. Curious, I went to read the blurb, and saw it was about an East German woman leaving her British husband abruptly in the time of the Berlin Wall and Cold War. Say no more! As a huge historical fiction lover, this sounded like my cup of tea! (yes, British… tea… I made a tiny pun, see?)
Honestly, it was my cup of tea!
And if you want to know more, it’s perfect because I’m here to spill the tea!
Just keep reading, loves!
Blurb
For readers of The Secrets We Kept and Jill Santopolo comes an epic love story about Greta and Henry, who by chance meet in 1982 East Berlin and find a love that’s meant to last a lifetime—until Greta vanishes.
I’m sorry. I can’t stay.
East Berlin, 1982. When Greta Schneider meets Henry Henderson, she is instantly smitten. An engineer on a work visa from Britain, Henry offers Greta a taste of the world beyond the Iron Curtain, a world that she yearns to explore as a translator once she finishes university. For Henry, Greta is simply perfect—bold and beautiful, her lively and inquisitive nature adding a vital spark to his everyday life.
But their time together is limited. Henry can’t stay once his visa expires, and Greta is forbidden from going beyond the Berlin Wall. It’s only been a few weeks, but they know how they feel about each other, so when Henry proposes, Greta accepts—and is given permission to start a new life with Henry in England. And for a time, everything is perfect. Until, one day, out of the blue, Greta walks out the door of their Oxford home, leaving a simple note behind.
Decades later, Henry still has unanswered questions. Greta loved him, and he loved her. They surmounted the odds to be together, and in his heart, he knows their marriage was happy. So why did she leave? How well did he really know his wife? When a young mother visits Henry’s antique restoration shop, she unknowingly brings with her a clue that sends Henry on a journey to find out what happened to the love of his life all those years ago.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, The Day I Left You is a gorgeous, spellbinding story about the nature of love, the memories we cling to, and the hurts we must leave behind to move forward.
The Positive Points
This book is heavy on love and how to go through grief and abandon, as well as how to find yourself and happiness again. It’s sweet. I had the impression this story is a quest for answers and love, and for love. It’s not a coming-of-age story, but it’s one of coming into your own person as you grow older and try to find answers and deal with grief. An interesting take that I rarely see.
The Day I Left You felt much like life. A tale of life, it felt while reading it. It was as though Greta and Henry were at a coffee shop with me, telling me their stories. I loved it!
Something fun is that I love how we see two different ages: when they are young in their twenties; and then in their sixties or so. It’s a real change from only twenty or forty years old in most adult novels. I love this! Also, I love that the present is told in third person, and that the past with Greta is more personal in first person, like we must feel her and understand her more deeply to make sense of her decisions and actions. For it to have the right effect on us, and it does, I can assure you that. And awwwwww, Part 2 really surprised me with a new and modern POV! I wondered if we’d get to see that aspect of the story, and we do! But no more, because no spoilers ;).
I felt like the surprises kept coming and it’s all so much more intricate and entangled than I saw at first. And much deeper, too. Wow! Plus, Greta’s reasons for leaving are totally understandable in her situation. I feel for her. And it shows all the ramifications of the Cold War, too…
This story fits the expression “all in due time” in several ways. I hope you’ll see for yourself. In the end, it was a very rewarding read. It resolves pretty nicely for both of them in very different but plausible ways.
What impresses me is that the structure of the book is so well done; everything makes sense and flows properly. All the chapters fit like building blocks put together correctly. The overall structure follows the internal structure—I mean that while the characters gradually deal with what’s happened between them and the Berlin Wall falling, the overall structure of the chapters and the different POVs reflect that perfectly! It’s a work of art so neatly weaved together, bravo!
My first impression was that the prologue is very gripping and intriguing. Why does Greta have to leave if she doesn’t want to? What’s in her past? It’s emotional too, although the use of the “you” POV for her lover surprised me, but it’s good—it’s more immersive in a way. It is personal, the prologue and the Greta’s chapters in the past. And not because the first person POV in Greta’s past, although it helps, but because of the way she describes her lover and her actions. There is a proximity, a certain closeness in the way she describes things. Like it shows she cares and loves.
Moreover, it’s really fun that we get to see both POVs. One in the past Greta, and now modern Henry. Wait until for a surprise modern POV later… It all adds a little something of enjoyment to the story.
I noticed some language tricks. For example, there are psychological tricks, like how telling a lie or anything in another language feels less committing. I love such details about the complexity of the human mind and heart! In addition to this linguistic aspect, I enjoy that some affectionate words are in German, and product names like wine or celebrations, as well as a few swear words and expressions are in German. I think it’s fun to come across these words and it helps with immersion in Greta’s world and memories. And as a polyglot, I always love to see languages sprinkled in stories.
Now, what about the characters? Honestly, I enjoyed my time with them! I’ll start with Henry because he’s the one I felt for the most. He is so romantic and cute in his feelings for Greta. A lovesick puppy; I want one like him! Henry is lovable and endearing because he thinks about others and injustices, and also, he is calm, intelligent. He is a kind and good soul, it’s lovely. I also find interesting that Henry is a furniture restorer. It’s very different and little heard of in stories.
Lucy Kenny! Ah, my favorite character of the story. I really like Lucy and her rambling and her energy. I really love Lucy Kenny, she reminds me of myself, haha! She’s so proactive, helpful, and kind. And most of all: she’s a real chatterbox with a lot of energy! Can you see that in my writing? I hope you can! Plus, I like that Henry and she develop a sort of friendship, it’s rather cute!
I also really like Ros, Lucy’s mother. She’s funny and down-to-earth and lively as well. I also enjoy her views and opinions on the children and her ex-husband who’s her best friend.
And Greta? I like her; however, sometimes she made me feel sour with her. She is intriguing and interesting, and her dreams and hopes are perfectly valid. Greta, I think, did the best she could with what she had to deal with, honestly. I can’t say any more—I don’t want to spoil the story for you! But know she had her reasons and tried her best in her situation.
As per the story, I love how Greta’s homesickness is tackled and described because it must really feel like that. And also, how everything is not perfect or necessarily greener in Britain than in the GDR (German Democratic Republic). It’s interesting to see that and natural for a young woman raised in East Berlin with the wall to see positives to her old life and be homesick while feeling lost and lonely in Britain and not liking everything like capitalism and always being short on money. The character also said that you’re as free in the West as your wallet allows, and it couldn’t be truer (unfortunately). She feels disconnected from life in Britain and in the West in general. Understandably so what with her background of different experiences under communism.
Henry and Greta both evolve as individuals. For Henry, it shows through his gradual openness with Lucy and her family and his realization that his repair work must not be perfect and still show some scratches and scuffles of life and love. He’s grown into his own after so long, poor guy. And Greta is finally confiding in someone and finding her own happy ending. I’m glad that in the end, Henry somehow gets a family he longed to have, albeit a bit differently than how he’d thought he’d have one. It’s funny that it’s through his search for Greta though, but I am glad. Henry deserves the peace and happiness, and a family of his own in a way. It’s cute. And he also needs a dear friend like Lucy.
I am rather pleased that the author, through Greta, explains how and why there is the Berlin Wall and how they got it with state socialism. It is very interesting and informative. And yes, she also explains what the Stasi are and their dangerous (if not deadly) surveillance. I had deducted it, but it’s good to have a better definition in Greta’s words.
I’m so into it. My emotions are gripped. It’s so poignant and I keep being outraged at what happened to Greta and the threats, and I keep telling my mom all about it in a flurry of emotions and indignation. It’s really good when I’m so gripped emotionally.
While I had an inkling of what Greta’d become, it became freakier as I kept reading! It was very gripping emotionally and felt like a whirlwind of intrigue and difficult choices. I am glad I got to read this book before publication-I had quite the adventure with it!
The Negative Points
The biggest point is that I found it so slow. For a book with such a huge question to answer (why did she leave so abruptly?), it’s really slow-paced, which makes it less thrilling than I thought it’d be (at least for the first half of the book). It’s still interesting, but it seems to take forever to receive a new “hint” at what might have happened. Ah, those hints trickled down every 4-5 chapters or so! They had me rolling my eyes a few times because they’re so few for a long while. (They’re exciting, but still!) After 50% of the book, it the pace picked up admirably and the intrigue took me in like a whirlwind, I’ve got to say!
Also, it annoys me that the person being left is always the one who suffers the most, huh? It shows in this book as well, I noticed… It’s not that I dislike Greta, it’s just unfair for Henry who’s been stuck on her since she left, and because of how she left. While Greta has her nomadic life and a new love… It makes me sour a bit towards Greta, oh well. However, towards the end, I understood more how it’s also been cruel and hard on her. It’s just she seems to move on so easily… But I guess she didn’t have much choice, did she? And that’s a problem: she never really did have a choice in the end.
Lastly, the necklace a certain Lucy wears from her mother is quite an intriguing and effective way to deepen and twist the plot a bit. It would have been more effective, however, if we’d known before that that Greta loved to make jewellery or at least more than implied. Because it’s a good moment, but it lacks a bit of the shocking effect as a reader.
In Conclusion
All in all, I give The Day I Left You a feelsy rating of 4 stars out of 5. Despite its slow start, I ended up loving the book and enjoying my time with the characters while learning more about the intricacies and ramifications of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. Plus, if you enjoy slow-paced books, it’ll be a perfect read! I strongly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, as well as historical fiction lovers. To those who love their books with a good dose of intrigue, mystery, and surprises. Also, I recommend it to those who love a good book that gives you feels and grips your emotions tightly, and feels just like you were out for coffee with friends to hear their life stories.
If you want to learn more about the author, Caroline Bishop, you can visit her author website and follow her on her Goodreads Author account, as well as her Instagram account. Don't forget to add The Day I Left You to your wishlist, your cart, or your bookshelves!
