This was a story about a blind french girl and a genius german boy, proving that kindness still exists in the times when you most question it, World war 11.
Each chapter, it changes from story to story, about Marie-Lee, a blind french girl who moves from Paris to Saint-Malo with her father to stay in her great uncles house. Her father makes her models of the towns that she lives in the size of her palm, so she finds her way around the city using that.
Werner is a german boy who is a genius with electrics and radios. He lives in an orphanage with his sister Jutta, and then starts his life in the hitler youth, revolving around working radios.
When Marie Lee and her father lived in Paris, her father worked in the museum, where there was a special stone called the 'sea of flames.' When they migrated, her father was given this stone with a mythical curse that it would keep the owner alive forever, but hurt the owners loved ones. He is told to keep it safe, whether its the real stone, or one of the three fakes. When he takes it way, a man is given the duty to find him and take the stone away from him. It leads Marie Lee and her father into danger.
This story is written so cleverly, and you really feel as if you re being told a story. Although the novel got confusing at times, it was incredibly gripping and was worded so well, that it felt like a very wise tail.
The story didn't have any incredibly dramatic snipets, but you were took through the lives from when you meet them both as children, and what they both had to go through to survive physically and mentally in the war.
I thought it was very clever how it was based on two characters who were completely different and you wouldn't think there paths would cross in any way, and if they did, it would end badly.
However, when you finish the book, you realise everything that has linked them together and it shows that everyone, how different you are to people, have so many links and similarities.
I think a lot of the story was telling us that even in the scariest and darkest times of the war, people were very bold and kindness still existed, even though it was hard to find.
Having said this, I also did find the book in parts very upsetting. It was a very realistic tale and there was so many parts to it but they fitted together as a whole so perfectly.
What was especially clever about the novel was all the characters situations therefore personalities were so different. Throughout the war, they faced different problems but all came back to fear. It proved to me that even the men who held power were also living in fear.
The book had parts to it with different dates. This meant the book sometimes went 1, 4 or 30 years back and forward, so the book gave you a conclusions without it telling you the plots, which made me wanted to read on.
Having said that the war brought fear, it also taught me that it brought people to become extremely brave, and conquer there fears. Bringing fear, brought bravery. The characters do things that you would never think they could or would do.
I think this is a book with so many stories and messages in , which makes it so special. It is written beautifully and It really felt like it was a true story which the writer witnessed first hand.
It transported simple storytelling into an incredibly interesting novel.
I would recommend it to everyone age 14+. It is an adult fiction book.
Buy it:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/anthony-doerr/9780008138301