All the Light We Cannot See - by Anthony Doerr

About the Book

"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 lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure."--

Book Synopsis

*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 War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. 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, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.

Doerr's "stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors" (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. 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).

Review Quotes

"All the Light We Cannot See is a dazzling, epic work of fiction. Anthony Doerr writes beautifully about the mythic and the intimate, about snails on beaches and armies on the move, about fate and love and history and those breathless, unbearable moments when they all come crashing together."--Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins

"A novel to live in, learn from, and feel bereft over when the last page is turned, Doerr's magnificently drawn story seems at once spacious and tightly composed. . . . Doerr masterfully and knowledgeably recreates the deprived civilian conditions of war-torn France and the strictly controlled lives of the military occupiers."-- "Booklist (starred review)"

"A tender exploration of this world's paradoxes; the beauty of the laws of nature and the terrible ends to which war subverts them; the frailty and the resilience of the human heart; the immutability of a moment and the healing power of time. The language is as expertly crafted as the master locksmith's models in the story, and the settings as intricately evoked. A compelling and uplifting novel."--M.L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans

"Doerr captures the sights and sounds of wartime and focuses, refreshingly, on the innate goodness of his major characters."-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

"Doerr sees the world as a scientist, but feels it as a poet. He knows about everything--radios, diamonds, mollusks, birds, flowers, locks, guns--but he also writes a line so beautiful, creates an image or scene so haunting, it makes you think forever differently about the big things--love, fear, cruelty, kindness, the countless facets of the human heart. Wildly suspenseful, structurally daring, rich in detail and soul, Doerr's new novel is that novel, the one you savor, and ponder, and happily lose sleep over, then go around urging all your friends to read--now."--J.R. Moehringer, author of Sutton and The Tender Bar

"Endlessly bold and equally delicate...An intricate miracle of invention, narrative verve, and deep research lightly held, but above all a miracle of humanity....Anthony Doerr's novel celebrates--and also accomplishes--what only the finest art can: the power to create, reveal, and augment experience in all its horror and wonder, heartbreak and rapture."-- "Shelf Awareness"

"If a book's success can be measured by its ability to move readers and the number of memorable characters it has, Story Prize-winner Doerr's novel triumphs on both counts. He convinces readers...that war--despite its desperation, cruelty, and harrowing moral choices--cannot negate the pleasures of the world."-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

"Intricate... A meditation on fate, free will, and the way that, in wartime, small choices can have vast consequences."-- "New Yorker"

"Sometimes a novel doesn't merely transport. It immerses, engulfs, keeps you caught within its words until the very end, when you blink and remember there's a world beyond the pages. All the Light We Cannot See is such a book... Vibrant, poignant, delicately exquisite. Despite the careful building of time and place (so vivid you fall between the pages), it's not a story of history; it's a story of people living history."-- "Historical Novel Society"

"Stunning and ultimately uplifting... Doerr's not-to-be-missed tale is a testament to the buoyancy of our dreams, carrying us into the light through the darkest nights."-- "Entertainment Weekly"

"The whole enthralls."-- "Good Housekeeping"

"This jewel of a story is put together like a vintage timepiece, its many threads coming together so perfectly. Doerr's writing and imagery are stunning. It's been a while since a novel had me under its spell in this fashion. The story still lives on in my head."--Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

What a delight! This novel has exquisite writing and a wonderfully suspenseful story. A book you'll tell your friends about...--Frances Itani, author of Deafening

"A beautiful, expansive tale...Ambitious and majestic."--Steph Cha "Los Angeles Times"

"A revelation."--Michael Magras "BookReporter.com"

"Anthony Doerr again takes language beyond mortal limits."--Elissa Schappell "Vanity Fair"

"Anthony Doerr writes beautifully... A tour de force."--Elizabeth Reed "Deseret Morning News"

"Beautifully written... Soulful and addictive."--Chris Stuckenschneider "The Missourian"

"Doerr conjures up a vibrating, crackling world...Intricately, beautifully crafted."--Rebecca Kelley "Bustle.com"

"Doerr deftly guides All the Light We Cannot See toward the day Werner's and Marie-Laure lives intersect during the bombing of Saint-Malo in what may be his best work to date."--Yvonne Zipp "Christian Science Monitor"

"Doerr has packed each of his scenes with such refractory material that All the Light We Cannot See reflects a dazzling array of themes....Startlingly fresh."--John Freeman "The Boston Globe"

"Doerr is an exquisite stylist; his talents are on full display."--Alan Cheuse "NPR"

"Enthrallingly told, beautifully written...Every piece of back story reveals information that charges the emerging narrative with significance, until at last the puzzle-box of the plot slides open to reveal the treasure hidden inside."--Amanda Vaill "Washington Post"

"Exquisite...Mesmerizing...Nothing short of brilliant."--Alice Evans "Portland Oregonian"

"Gorgeous... moves with the pace of a thriller... Doerr imagines the unseen grace, the unseen light that, occasionally, surprisingly, breaks to the surface even in the worst of times."--Dan Cryer "San Francisco Chronicle"

"Hauntingly beautiful."--Janet Maslin "The New York Times"

"History intertwines with irresistible fiction--secret radio broadcasts, a cursed diamond, a soldier's deepest doubts--into a richly compelling, bittersweet package."--Mary Pols "People (3 1/2 stars)"

"Incandescent... a luminous work of strife and transcendence... with characters as noble as they are enthralling"--Hamilton Cain "O, the Oprah magazine"

"Intricately structured...All the Light We Cannot See is a work of art and of preservation."--Jane Ciabattari "BBC"

"Magnificent."--Carmen Callil "The Guardian (UK)"

"Perfectly captured...Doerr writes sentences that are clear-eyed, taut, sweetly lyrical."--Josh Cook "Minneapolis Star Tribune"

"Stupendous...A beautiful, daring, heartbreaking, oddly joyous novel."--David Laskin "The Seattle Times"

"The craftsmanship of Doerr's book is rooted in his ability to inhabit the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner...[A] fine novel."--Steve Novak "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"

"There is so much in this book. It is difficult to convey the complexity, the detail, the beauty and the brutality of this simple story."--Carole O'Brien "Aspen Daily News"

"This novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece...[All the Light We Cannot See] presents two characters so interesting and sympathetic that readers will keep turning the pages hoping for an impossibly happy ending...Highly recommended for fans of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient."--Evelyn Beck "Library Journal (starred review)"

"This tough-to-put-down book proves its worth page after lyrical page...Each and every person in this finely spun assemblage is distinct and true."--Sharon Peters "USA Today"

"To open a book by Anthony Doerr is to open a door on humanity...His sentences shimmer...His paragraphs are luminous with bright, sparkling beauty."--Martha Anne Toll "Washington Independent Review of Books"

"Vivid...[All the Light We Cannot See] brims with scrupulous reverence for all forms of life. The invisible light of the title shines long after the last page."--Tricia Springstubb "Cleveland Plain Dealer"

About The Author

Anthony Doerr is the author of All the Light We Cannot See, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Carnegie Medal, the Alex Award, and a #1 New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of the story collections Memory Wall and The Shell Collector, the novel About Grace, and the memoir Four Seasons in Rome. He has won five O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize, the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award, the National Magazine Award for fiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Story Prize. Doerr lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife and two sons.