The Day I Left You: A Novel

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.

Caroline Bishop is a journalist, an editor, and the author of three novels: The Day I Left You, The Other Daughter, and The Lost Chapter. For the past fifteen years, she has written about travel, food, and theatre for many publications, including The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph (London), The Independent, and BBC Travel. A British Canadian, she currently lives in Switzerland.

ISBN: 9781668047262
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: February 18, 2025

“An intricately carved puzzle box of a novel, The Day I Left You is spectacular.”
— KRISTIN HARMEL, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Daughter“Set against the dark and forbidding backdrop of the Iron Curtain, The Day I Left You is a heart-wrenching love story with a page-turning mystery at its centre, evoked in Bishop's charming prose. Fans of her previous works will be delighted—this is her best novel yet!”
— HEATHER MARSHALL, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Jane and The Secret History of Audrey James“The Day I Left You is several books in one. A beautiful exploration of love, expectation, and all the complexities of building a life together. It’s also . . . a fascinating tale of the messed-up world of the Cold War . . . Bishop manages all of this in effortless, beautiful, and evocative prose. I absolutely adored this book!”
— LOUISE FEIN, bestselling author of The Hidden Child “Caroline Bishop's page-turner delves into eternal questions: How far will we go to protect loved ones? Can we truly know the people who share our lives? Which choices will define our lives? I loved The Day I Left You both for its striking portrait of the Cold War years and for the nuanced depiction of a marriage.”
— JANET SKESLIEN CHARLES, New York Times bestselling author of Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade “An intriguing mystery, a moving love story and a fascinating glimpse of life in Cold War East Germany, all wrapped up in Caroline Bishop's beautiful, evocative writing. I loved it.”
— FRANCES QUINN, author of The Lost Passenger“Bishop skillfully creates a decades-long love story within a mystery within a Cold War adventure—a glorious Russian doll of expert storytelling. I was hooked from the start.”
— JENNY LECOAT, New York Times bestseller author of The Girl from the Channel Islands “Caroline Bishop has woven an intricate and mysterious love story; spanning the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the present day. Exploring the importance and impact of memory, identity, and how far we’ll go to protect those we love, The Day I Left You is a tense, moving, stunning piece of historical fiction.”
— ASHLEY TATE, bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes“Affecting, assured, and moving. I can’t remember the last time I read a novel with such historical authenticity. An unflinching view of love, in its many forms. It made me ask myself what it takes to be courageous.”
— AMANDA GEARD, author of The Moon Gate“The Day I Left You tells the story of a man who’s unable to give up on the love he lost and a brave but misguided woman searching for redemption without any belief she'll find it. Part exploration of love and loss and having the strength to start over despite risk, and part mystery, Bishop’s writing is full of flawed characters who feel stuck in their circumstances with no clear path out. A captivating meditation on the weight of guilt and the even heavier burden of having the courage, and the grace, to forgive.”
— CHARLENE CARR, bestselling author of Rip the World Apart“The most beautiful portrait of mother-daughter relationships. I couldn’t put it down.”
— CAROLINE SCOTT, author of The Poppy Wife