All the Light We Cannot See
Written by: Anthony Doerr
All the Light We Cannot See is a historical fiction novel written by Anthony Doerr, and takes place during WWII. It is the tale of two children caught in the violence of World War II. Werner, a German boy, is an albino and is naturally gifted at assembling radios at an early age. Marie-Laure is a 12 year old, blind, French girl. The author vividly describes how her father teaches his young blind daughter to get around the city. When the bombings occur, they find themselves fleeing to her uncle’s house.
The Nazis assign Werner to the task of hunting down hidden radios of the Resistance. The plot brings us to the point these two children meet and what happens next is heartbreaking.
Anthony Doerr captures your attention with his ability to draw you in make you feel as if you have been transported to the heart and surroundings of the story. All the Light We Cannot See, I think, refers to the physical light for Marie-Laure since she is blind, and for Werner it is in his circumstances. For him it is the tragedy of the war and being unsure if he’ll ever see the “light” again.
This is a long book (or, in my case, I listened to the audio book), but pretty easy to follow. It is not in chronological order and skips around a bit. If you like war stories and historical fiction this is a must read.
LB
