Book Review : All The Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Hello! In this post, I'm going to review books that I have read. This book is titled "All the Things We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. I bought this novel as a blind buy; I had not known about this book before. I just read the summary on Goodreads, and it has great ratings—4.3 with 109K reviews. "All The Light We Cannot See" tells the stories of Marie-Laure Leblanc, who grows up in Paris during the bombing of the German-occupied French town of Saint-Malo period in August 1944. Marie lives with her father, Daniel, who works as a locksmith for the France's National Museum of History. During childhood, Marie-Laure goes blind; however, her father, Daniel, teaches her to navigate their surrounding neighborhood independently by building her a scale model of the buildings located around their area, so young Marie could go to the neighborhood without always having her father on her side. In June 1940, Daniel brought Marie to meet her great-uncle, Etienne, who lives in Saint-Malo with his housekeeper, Madame Manec due to the condition of Paris, which has gotten worse caused by the German occupation.

Daniel, without Marie-Laure's knowledge, is appointed to carry a legendary diamond called the Sea of Flames, which is one of the stones that has been copied by the Museum Director. The museum director made three copies of the legendary stones that have been sent off to various staff members, and one of them is Daniel. No one knows if the stone they possess is real or a copy, as well with Daniel. When they arrived at Saint-Malo, Daniel also made a scale model of the town Saint-Malo for Marie so she can learn to navigate the surroundings, and he also hides the diamond replica he made in Etienne's house. In December 1940, Daniel got called back to Paris, and during his Journey there, he got arrested and taken to a prison camp in Germany. During this period, he always sends Marie some letters and tells Marie that everything is fine there. Daniel eventually dies, and at this point, Marie-Laure still does not know whether her father has been alive or not.

Madame Manec, Etienne's housekeeper, has organized an independent resistance movement with people who live in her surrounding area, and she tried to engage Saint-Malo townspeople to join her. Etienne, Marie's great-uncle, initially hesitant; however, as time goes on, he along with Marie eventually begins to take part. Etienne contributes to making a hidden secret attic floor in his house, and on that floor, he has made a transmitter radio. This transmitter is used by him to broadcast recordings of his deceased brother presenting science programming for children as a way to keep the memories alive, and during the occupation period, he uses the transmitter to broadcast codes and messages.

On the other hand, there lives a boy called Werner Pfennig who grows up in an orphanage in Germany. He lives with his sister, Jutta. Werner is a boy gifted with extremely talented skills in mathematics and logical thinking. He also has good skills to memorize and process a lot of scientific knowledge without knowing it beforehand. One day, Werner found an abandoned radio by accident, and he tried to repair the radio by himself. Eventually, the radio works, and from that, he can listen to a French program where a man explains scientific knowledge. During the war period, the Nazi party becomes stronger and dominates Germany, and in order to increase their military power, they made a specialized military school where they recruit adolescent boys with special talents to join them. Werner, who has a special ability in repairing the radio and has good scientific understanding, got accepted into that school. However, his sister, Jutta, is not welcoming this idea; she is afraid that her brother will be occupied by Nazi ideology. During his school period, Werner witnesses a lot of brutality, one of the examples is his close friend being beaten until he suffers severe brain damage.

When Werner turns sixteen, his age is changed so he can serve on the German front lines. He spends the next two years traveling, tracking down civilians using illegal radios in occupied German areas. Working with a fellow German soldier named Volkheimer, Werner faces moral conflicts, especially when witnessing the killing of a woman and child by one of his comrades. By spring 1944, Werner and his comrades are deployed to Saint-Malo, where he is surprised to find someone with a familiar voice from his childhood broadcasting secret codes. Uncertain about what to do, Werner keeps this information to himself but also spies on the house transmitting the signal, catching sight of Marie-Laure.

During this period, Nazi official von Rumpel is tasked with confiscating jewels from occupied territories. His obsession with finding the Sea of Flames diamond intensifies due to his belief that it holds the key to immortality, a belief fueled by his battle with cancer. Despite tracking down three of the four stones between 1940 and 1944, the genuine one remains elusive. Eventually, he traces it to Saint-Malo, specifically to Daniel Leblanc’s last known residence. In August 1944, as Allied forces bomb Saint-Malo, all three characters face dire situations: Werner is trapped in a cellar, Marie-Laure is alone in her house, and von Rumpel seizes the chaos to search for the diamond. Hearing an intruder, Marie-Laure hides in the attic with Etienne’s radio transmitter, taking the diamond with her. Over four days, she remains hidden, sending messages that Werner, trapped in the cellar, receives.

Werner manages to break free from the cellar and rushes to the house. Von Rumpel assumes Werner is after the diamond, and in a confrontation, Werner fatally shoots him. With von Rumpel out of the way, Marie-Laure emerges from hiding, and Werner helps her escape to safety. As they leave the town, Marie-Laure hides the diamond in a secret grotto, giving the key to Werner. They part ways, and Marie-Laure reunites with Etienne in Paris. Werner, on the other hand, is captured and falls ill while imprisoned. Months later, in a delirious state, he accidentally steps on a landmine and dies. In 1974, some of Werner's belongings are sent to Volkheimer, who passes them on to Jutta. Jutta follows these clues and eventually meets Marie-Laure, now a scientist and mother. Although Marie-Laure wonders if Werner ever returned for the diamond, it's likely that it remained in the grotto, destined to be swept away by the sea.

Final Verdict: This novel is undoubtedly one of the best novels I have ever read. It tells such heart-wrenching stories. The fact that Werner has a sad ending and never meets Jutta is very sad to me, and also the ending that feels empty gives such a lingering aftereffect related to its characters. Highly recommended!

All the Lighst We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Goodreads Rating : 4.3/5 (90%)

Originally published: May, 2014

Author: Anthony Doer

Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fictiona

Genre: Historical Fiction

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