All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

I had this book on my shelf for months. It was one of the book club books and somehow I've fallen behind on my reading. Maybe because I'm trying to finish off a course and tell myself I shouldn't read a book because I need to study, then end up grabbing one for the bus anyways....oops!

This was a very good book, easily one of my favourites of the year. The book is set during the second world war and goes back and forth between Marie-Laure in France and Werner in Germany. It also jumps from present to past in each section of the book.

Marie-Laure grows up in Paris with her father, a lock-master at the National Museum. She has poor eyesight and goes blind when she is six. Her father builds her a model of their neighbourhood in Paris so she can learn how to get around by herself. Eventually she is able to lead him to and from the Museum. Then the war hits and they have to evacuate. Intertwined in this story is another story of a precious diamond held in a museum vault and the myth surrounding it.

Werner grows up in an orphanage in Germany with his little sister. He is extremely smart and learns quickly how to assemble radios. This talent is noticed by an officer in the army and he is sent to "try out" for a school. He pushes himself to succeed to escape the orphanage and his future as a miner, despite his sister's reservations. At 16 he is sent to track radio signals in German occupied areas of Europe to stop information getting to the Allies.

The stories of the two eventually connect and throughout I found myself rooting for both. Marie-Laure went through so much in her life, and showed such bravery. Werner came from nothing and though we know the truth of what happened in WWII, as a young soldier, he was just trying to get through and realized later what was really important.

I highly recommend this book. It took me quite awhile to get through it, which is unlike me, but I found I didn't want to, or couldn't read it for too long. There was so much going on and so many different feelings it brought out. Go read this one!