"A big book in every way, powerful, intensely moving and awe inspiring. "
Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever. My heart was stolen by Marie-Laure, who turned blind at six-years-old. We follow her endearing, and enduring friendship with the wonderful Werner, a German orphan, against the savage backdrop of the second world war. Never is our faith in the innate goodness of people more tested than during the horrors of war, but in these two characters we are reminded that no matter how great the odds against you, hope and kindness will remain long after the final bullets have been fired. One of my all time favourites.
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One of our Books of the Year 2015.
May 2015 Book of the Month.
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
A big book in every way, powerful, intensely moving and awe inspiring. It traces the lives of blind Marie and orphan Werner through World War II. Werner is a whizz with fixing things and is pushed into Hitler’s Youth and on into the heart of the fighting until he lands up in St Malo on the Brittany coast where he meets Marie. Marie has fled there from Paris as the Germans advanced. The novel takes us through to the present. It is an epic story of the horror of war, the suffering and endurance illuminated with many acts of kindness. Beautifully written, it is a memorable, haunting tale. Doerr is an author to note being chosen by Granta as one of 21 Best Young American Novelists of the moment. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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The epic new novel, set during WW2, from Sunday Times Short Story Prize-winner Anthony Doerr. Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret. Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father's life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering. At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in. Doerr's combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric. As Europe is engulfed by war and lives collide unpredictably, 'All The Light We Cannot See' is a captivating and devastating elegy for innocence.
All the Light We Cannot See features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Books of the Month, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Book Club Recommendations, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
All the Light We Cannot See is available in Paperback, Hardback
All the Light We Cannot See was written by Anthony Doerr and published by Fourth Estate Ltd an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
All the Light We Cannot See has 531 pages
£8.99