The beloved story 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. *NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti*
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.
Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, the author illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).
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"By switching from one character's perspective to another, it's a bit confusing. And the idea of experiencing World War 2 through the ears of a blind girl seemed a bit stretched. But nevertheless, an engaging story."
— Meredith Doig (4 out of 5 stars)
“Zach Appelman’s performance in this beautifully crafted audiobook… animates the story…The dramatic history is tempered by humanity—thanks to both a skilled author and a masterful narrator. Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“Incandescent…A luminous work of strife and transcendence.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine“Hauntingly beautiful.”
— New York Times“Enthralling told, beautifully written.”
— Washington Post“Gorgeous...Moves with the pace of a thriller.”
— San Francisco Chronicle“Dazzling.”
— Boston Globe“Stupendous…A beautiful, daring, heartbreaking, oddly joyous novel.”
— Seattle Times“The written equivalent of a Botticelli.”
— Oregonian“This novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece…Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“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)“Doerr captures the sights and sounds of wartime and focuses, refreshingly, on the innate goodness of his major characters.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“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.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“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.”
— Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone" Loved the story. Kept me engaged and ready for more. "
— ANR, 5/31/2024" Masterfully written book and brilliantly narrated. "
— Kimo, 11/12/2020" Anthony Doerr is an artist. He paints entire pictures with words. From the first page to the last, his descriptions captivated me. The story was amazing. I highly recommend it. "
— Teri, 12/17/2017" I absolutely loved this book! I hated to see it end. A long quiet story that gets you wrapped up in the lives of its characters. Hard to find another book now that this one has spoiled me! "
— Diane, 5/12/2017" This book is hard to stop listening too. I found myself staying in the car to listen longer. The story is complicated enough to be intriguing, but simple enough to follow. "
— Melissa, 4/19/2016Anthony 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.
Zach Appelman has performed in numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional plays. A graduate of Yale School of Drama, he lives in New York City. He won an Audiofile Earphones Award and an Audie Award for Best Fiction Narration in 2015.