When Mother was in town this summer, she had her nose stuck in a book every chance she got. She finished it up before she left and I couldn’t wait to get started reading. Just a few pages in and I knew why she couldn’t put it down! The great read that captivated both of us was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
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.
Set in the throes of World War II, the book is beautifully written and deeply moving. It is a tale of people devastated by war and story of those that try to rise above it. The characters will stay with you long after finishing this one, and the perspective is likely quite different from any other WWII novel you’ve read. I can’t say enough good things about this one.
As always, let me know what is on your bedside!
All the Light We Cannot See | On My Bedside Series
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Loved this book! If you haven’t read The Nightengale yet please do yourself a favor and block an entire weekend off your calendar. It’s definitely one of those you’ll give up sleep for;)
You will love it. One of the best books I’ve ever read!
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m finishing up Inferno (before I go see the movie) and its good but a bit disturbing. This book looks like it will be a good contrast. Will definitely pick it up!
Oh! And just saw it won a Pulitzer too. Very cool! My grandfather got to sit on the Pulitzer committee long ago. Will for sure have to read it now.
Hi, Amanda! I’m definitely going to get this book! Right now, I’m reading Far from the Madding Crowd. I read it when I was a senior in high school and wrote my first research paper on it. I watched the movie a few weeks ago and remembered how much I liked the storyline. I agree with Sarah and Laurie about The Nightingale–great novel. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is also a great novel set during the Holocaust. Happy reading, all! xoxo
I loved The Nightingale, but I recently picked up Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things. It is a great read and an eye opening book. It made me really think about how I see the world- you will love it!
I am in the process of reading John Grisham ‘s new novel The Whistler and have read All the Light We Cannot See….very good read. The Nightingale is the best book I’ve read in a long time, amazing storyline from beginning to end…..beautifully written.
I read that book this summer and told everyone they needed to read it, too. It’s outstanding.
All the Light We Cannot See was the best book I’ve read in several years. Beautiful story, beautiful writing! I just finished The Nightengale and I highly recommend it as well. I also completed Mrs. Poe, by Lynn Cullen, an Atlanta author. It was an interesting historical novel full of references to writers, inventors, and famous people who lived during the often misunderstood life of Edgar Allan Poe.
The book was extremely moving for me. I spent a summer abroad studying in St. Malo. The headmistress of our school was a holocaust survivor. Plus one of my uncles was stationed in St. Malo during WWII. Each chapter brought back fond memories.