All the Light We Cannot See

The most acclaimed and beloved novel of the season, the instant national bestseller--"hauntingly beautiful" ("The New York Times"), "incandescent, luminous...enthralling" ("O, The Oprah Magazine"). 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. 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. They carry with them what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a German town, an orphan named Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner's expertise wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance. Increasingly aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge. Anthony 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, "All the Light We Cannot See" is a "beautiful, daring, heartbreaking, oddly joyous novel" ("The Seattle Times").

Review :
""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 beautiful, expansive tale...Ambitious and majestic."--Steph Cha "Los Angeles Times " "A revelation."--Michael Magras "BookReporter.com " "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 "Anthony Doerr again takes language beyond mortal limits."--Elissa Schappell "Vanity Fair " "Dazzling...Startlingly fresh."--John Freeman "The Boston Globe " "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 is an exquisite stylist; his talents are on full display."--Alan Cheuse "NPR " "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 "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...Mellifluous and unhurried...Characters as noble as they are enthralling. Doerr looms myriad strains into a luminous work of strife and transcendence."--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 " "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 "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 " "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