Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

“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.

– Amazon’s blurb of “All the Light We Cannot See”

Review from our editor, Mohan, on Amazon

I chanced on a copy of Anthony Doerr’s bestseller with a bit of trepidation: was this yet another novel about WWII? One would think that all, if not most of the stories of the great war have been reviewed and written. But no, this came across as a surprisingly refreshing epic saga.

The focus of the story, set in the five years of the world war (between 1939 and 1944) is on the lives and travails of two main characters – Marie Laure and Werner. Marie Laure is a blind 14-year-old French girl who flees from Paris to the countryside with her father who is a locksmith for a renowned museum. Werner is a radio-and-gadget-obsessed German orphan picked from his orphanage to attend an elite military school.

The strong characters will leave you reflecting on the story much after you have finished the novel. The fast paced twists and turns in the plot with engaging characters keep readers hooked through the saga.

It is not for nothing that the book received several acclaimed literary awards, including The 2015 Pulitzer Prize and The Carnegie Medal for Fiction, ending as a New York Times Bestseller

About the author: Anthony Doerr has won numerous prizes for his fiction, including the 2015 Pulitzer Prize. His most recent novel, All the Light We Cannot See, was named a best book of 2014 by a number of publications, and was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Visit him at http://www.anthonydoerr.com.

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