ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

A story of two children cast adrift in the turmoil of WW2: Marie-Laure, a blind French girl exiled with her father from Paris to Saint-Malo while in possession of a precious jewel, and Werner, a frail and bookish German orphan, who possesses a scientific aptitude that proves useful to the Nazis. Marie-Laure must somehow persevere when her father is captured, and is a model of courage. Werner is an innocent German who must choose to become complicit with the Nazis and thrive, or be left behind and repressed, and chooses the former, though he finds his absolution when his path intersects with Marie-Laure’s. How does one quibble with over 4 million copies put in circulation, yet I must admit it took fifty pages or so for me to penetrate this read. The prose has an almost velvety texture, with exquisitely lyrical similes and metaphors coming fast and furious. But I hit my reading stride and enjoyed the book very much, perhaps owing to the quick pacing generated by short chapters with alternating points of view of the protagonists.