BOEK VAN DE WEEK: ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE – ANTHONY DOERR

In All the light we cannot see we follow two kids through the horrors of the Second World War. Both of them are forced down certain paths in life by the war. Their stories intertwine and show us how people try to be good to eachother even during the worst of times. It is a very moving book about the beauty of humanity.

One of the stories is about Marie-Laure Leblanc, a blind French girl. Her father Daniel builds models for Marie-Laure of the neighbourhoods they live in, so she can find her way home. Daniel works at the Museum of Natural History. An infamous diamond is kept there, which is said to have magical powers. Together they live in a nice Paris neighbourhood until the Nazi’s attack France. They’re forced to flee to the coastal town of Saint-Malo where they take refuge with her great-uncle Etienne.

The other story is about Werner Pfennig, a bright German orphan ina coal-mining town. Werner and his sister find a broken radio and he manages to repair it. There are music and science broadcasts going out across Europe. Daniel and his sister listen to them using their radio. When his knack for electronics becomes apparent he is whisked away to a Nazi state boarding school. It’s his only chance to escape the dead-end life of a miner that killed his father, so he takes it. He is later sent to join the German military in the field and his assignment eventually takes him to Saint-Malo.

That is where their paths come together. Even though they are on opposite sides of the deadly conflict, the two meet. If you want to find out what happens to them, order this book on https://www.stichtingboekenwerk.nl/shop/storefront/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/

Deze boekbeschrijving is geschreven door een van de deelnemers van Stichting Boekenwerk.

All the light we cannot see