All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I wish I had read it earlier. Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is an exquisitely written novel which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. The story follows dual protagonists: Marie-Laure, a French girl who has been blind since the age of six and lives with her devoted father; and Werner Pfennig, a highly intelligent German orphan who is recruited as an unwilling member of the Hitler youth. The novel jumps about between different moments prior to and during the Second World War, with both characters growing up into a dangerous world and trying to navigate the devastation and difficult decisions they face. 

Marie-Laure's father worked as a locksmith in a Paris museum prior to the war, and in his spare time he created scale models of the neighbourhood so that Marie-Laure could learn to navigate the streets based on her recognition of kerbs, lampposts and storm drains, giving her a sense of independence. She is an incredibly optimistic and captivating character who is able to find light and colour in everything that surrounds her despite her inability to see. Doerr's portrayal of her senses and the way in which she takes in her surroundings is beautiful, inspiring and spellbinding - this character is able to appreciate the most mundane of objects in a way which many sighted people cannot. 

Once war breaks out, Marie-Laure and her father flee Paris to the town of Saint-Malo, to and stay with a her great-uncle in his grand six-storey house. Her father has been given the task of protecting a jewel which had been encased in the museum named 'The Sea of Flames', which may or may not be a fake, and this risky cargo means that the father and daughter are being hunted down by a German soldier who is in hot pursuit of the artefact. Marie-Laure forms a great bond with her great-uncle whilst in Saint-Malo, and their shared affinity for radio transmission, despite the prohibition of radio equipment in France, brings them closer to danger as they secretly transmit messages across the occupied landscape.

Meanwhile, Werner's affinity for radios is discovered in Germany - he is able to fix and re-wire them like no other, and is promptly sent to a boarding school where he undergoes brutal physical training as well as helping to fix radios and hunt down enemy signals. Werner is not an inherently bad person - in fact he is a good person underneath it all - but his lack of parents and a loving upbringing has meant that he will follow instruction blindly, always with an aim to please, even when he knows that what he is doing goes against his morals. He becomes embroiled in a life that he has not the power to stop, and yet must make some courageous decisions and grow up very quickly. 

This is a stunning and moving book, which is entirely worthy of its hefty size. The alternating narration and short chapters (many are only a page or two long) mean that the book is fast-paced and you become equally invested and gripped by both of the protagonists' stories. Some people have commented on the confusing timeline, as events are not chronological but Doerr jumps about - yet I disagree with this, as each section of the book is dated and it I believe that the lack of a linear plot makes the story more dynamic. My biggest praise for this novel is definitely Doerr's haunting use of language and depiction of settings and objects. The way in which the characters' stories weave together is beautifully done - not conventional or overly predictable - and overall this is a powerful and memorable novel.