REVIEW: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

 

I am not sure why it took me so long to read this novel - maybe I was feeling so inundated by World War II books.  Anyways, it's a Netflix series now so I wanted to read it  before seeing the series. This novel takes place in Germany and France before and during Germany's occupation of France. Marie Laure is a blind girl living in France with her father, who is the keymaster of the local museum and Werner is a German orphan living in an orphanage in the German countryside with his sister Jutta. Werner is a pro at fixing things and, specifically, fixing radios. 

In 1940, Marie and her father escape German occupied Paris for Saint Malo, where her great Uncle Etienne has a home.  Her father has been entrusted with a remarkable and valuable piece from the museum - the Sea of Flame - which the Germans are looking for. Werner also ends up in Saint Malo, where he is tracing transmissions sent by Marie and Etienne on behalf of the resistance, all the while the Germans are still looking for this historical piece. 

I really enjoyed the descriptions in this novel, although the non linear storytelling was disconcerting. I had a hard time shifting between times, but perhaps that was the point of this. I loved both Marie and  Werner - all the characters really, as they were all quite memorable.  The 530 pages seemed to really move, which was also good.  I very much look forward to the series and more of Doerr's work.