All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 5*'s

[MargieD2017]

A story of WWII written in alternating short chapters of a young French blind girl, Marie-Laure and a young German orphan boy, Werner captures your imagination, empathy and historical understandings with a gripping hand that doesn't release you until the very end. Their individual tales are followed through the invasion of France with the young girls years being influenced by her father's locksmith business and her uncle's radio transmissions that fueled the resistance while Werner is launched into the German military radio divisions where his talents for building radios and triangulating the finding of transmissions sites proved invaluable to the senior officers. Crossing paths toward the end of the novel are also a time where their years living through the multiple conditions of war have transformed them each into newly found human awarenesses that allow for a swift and deep relationship to form in nearly the very first meeting.

The writing style of this author is comprised of an incredibly poetic hand coupled with immersive descriptions that allow for a wonderful reading experience. I have heard of this book from several of my reading friends over the last couple of years but only now have taken it up. I am so glad I did.

[Joanne]

I gave this one 5 stars-I really enjoyed it. Nice review

[Susie]

A five for me too. I love it when others enjoy a book as much as I did.

[NancyJ]

It was a fascinating book. I love it when a book makes reference to other books. The girl in the story is reading Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (in braille) throughout the story. The author managed to tie in a few themes from Verne into the book. It gave it an extra literary touch. I didn't notice the connections until the end, so if I reread it, I'll pay closer attention.

[Book Concierge]

I also really liked this one - 4****

I listened to the audio, which has the added advantage of beginning and ending with the strains of Clair de Lune playing.