Winner of the Pulitzer Prize A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book* A National Book Award finalist * From Anthony Doerr, the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of Cloud Cuckoo Land, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World … France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).
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One of my favorite ww11 books.
I loved this book.
Lovely story – not sappy but really pulls at the heart strings
A stunning novel set during WWII, from an original perspective. Doerr is also an amazing speaker and uplifting presence.
Love it
Touching
One of my favorite books.
I could read it over and over again.
Our book club read this book. Most of the members found it inspirational and a good read. It wasn’t my favorite. The words didn’t flow in an easy to read fashion. The story was very interesting and almost unbelievable. He leads an amazing life.
One of the very best books I have read.
Superior use of characters and story to deal with a time that has been over-written about.
Along with The Book Thief, one of the best works of its time period.
An elegantly written story that is filled with history and feeling. A most intelligently phrased tail that brings WWII to life in the relationship between two young people caught on different sides of the conflict.
Fantastic book!
Beautifully written and thought provoking.
This was a recommended read for me and I honestly say I didn’t put this books down. I stayed up for hours reading this craving to know what each page had in store. I was skeptical at first since the story takes place in France during WWII, I didn’t know what to expect. When I started reading it felt as if I was there in Paris watching the events …
One of my all time favorite WWII books!
My favorite book is amazing! You may be in a soft, sweet, dreamlike state as you read. The characters are so well developed. Some are surprising! Behaviors change. Really well written. I hope this author writes 10 more novels at least. His other one, “About Grace” is just as good!
I saw the movie before I read the book. As expected, the book developed the characters so much better. I was surprised how well the author was able to describe 2 people (and eventually a child arrives) living on such a solitary and isolated island, yet keep you intrigued throughout the entire story.
I could not put it down. One of the finest books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
An awesome book that everyone should read
I was drawn to this book by the picture of San Malo on the cover, one of my favorite places in France. But the story kept me reading to the end. It is a beautifully written, wonderful book.