Item: All the Light We Cannot See
Rating: 5.00
Author: roundtableknight

by Anthony Doerr

WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II

Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret.

Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father's life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering.

At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in.

Doerr's combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric. As Europe is engulfed by war and lives collide unpredictably, 'All The Light We Cannot See' is a captivating and devastating elegy for innocence.

Rating: 5/5stars
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What can you say about a story that is so raw? One which holds back no punches and leaves you broken but yet able to put enough of the pieces back together to continue on. This book did that. I've always loved historical fiction, and this book enhanced that love. Marie-Laure is an incredible character to follow and watch grow up during this war, and Werner, well, he is one of a kind as well. Together with their stories and a handful of other interspersed throughout the novel, it creates a web of pure heartache and beauty that signifies why one should read this book.

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr

Reviewed by roundtableknight on Sep 3, 2020

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