All the Light We Cannot See

 All the Light We Cannot See (2014) by Anthony Doerr

This is the story of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a girl who is six years old when struck blind. She lives with her father in Paris where he is the locksmith and keeper of the keys for the Museum of Natural History. Each year for her birthday he creates a puzzle box for her to solve in order to find the treat inside and when he can he also gives her books in Braille. in 1940, they are forced to flee Paris when the Germans bomb the city. They head to Marie-Laure's great-uncle's house for safety. When they leave, the museum's director sends her father away with one of four duplicate stones. The museum has held a fabulous diamond called the Sea of Flames. A jewel said to be cursed--anyone who holds it will never die, but those around them will. The director has had three paste diamonds made--one stone will stay in the museum and the other three are sent with museum employees. None of them will know where the real one is.

This is also the story of Werner Pfennig, a German boy left an orphan with his sister when their father is killed in a mining accident. Werner discovers he has a gift for fixing mechanical and electronic devices and soon gains the attention of adults throughout the area for his wizardry with the fairly new radios. He and his sister often go scavenging in the ruined buildings nearby and when they find a broken radio Werner works his magic and provides entertainment for the orphanage. The two are fascinated by a late-night program they hear from a Frenchman who talks about science--hard science and natural science. But the radio becomes a threat once Nazism takes over and people can be punished or even killed for listening to foreign broadcasts. The last broadcast his sister Jutta hears before he destroys the radio tells of the German bombings in France.

Werner's talents soon earn him a place at an elite Hitler Youth school and eventually lead him to an assignment to a special team of hunters. Hunters whose sole job is to find contraband radios in occupied countries and destroy them...and anyone they find with the devices. The longer he works for the team the more he thinks of Jutta's face when she talked about the bombings. She couldn't believe that they were at war with France where that nice man spoke from. And he thinks of Frederick, his friend at the school, who refused to participate in cruelties dished out to prisoners and who paid a dear price for defying the Reich.

And finally this is the story of Reinhold von Rumpel, a German officer charged with tracking down jewels, artwork, and other valuable objects and snatching them in the name of the Fuhrer. When he learns about the Sea of Flames, he becomes obsessed with getting hold of it--not for the Fuhrer, but for himself. He has cancer and he plans to obtain the jewel and live forever. He methodically hunts down every stone (all false) until the trail leads him towards Saint-Malo, the last place Daniel LeBlanc and his blind daughter was known to be. 

In fact by 1944, all roads lead to to Saint-Malo. Von Rumpel is coming in search of the diamond. Werner's team is headed there, on the track of an illicit radio which the Germans believe responsible for coded messages which have led to the ambush and destruction of many German troops. Also on the way are the Americans...and they're destroying towns held by Nazis. And the real story is what will Werner do when he locates that radio and what will happen if Von Rumpel comes calling at the house in Saint-Malo.

This is an absolutely first-rate historical novel. Beautifully written even as it covers some pretty dreadful events. All of the characters are brought vividly to life and it is painful to watch what happens to some of them. I kept hoping that Werner would finally learn the lessons from Jutta and Frederick; that he would somehow be redeemed at the end of the story. There is much cruelty and there is much heroism. There are moments of sadness and moments of joy mixed in with the terror of occupation. A number of the characters do really amazing things while others do some really amazingly horrible things. The bravery of the resistance group in Saint Malo is incredible, as is the devotion of Daniel LeBlanc to his daughter and the effort he puts into making her as safe and comfortable in her environment as he can. And...yes, there is a redemption of a sort for various characters. 

One of the best books I've read this year--I'm grateful to Lavonne Weller and Richard Nash for suggesting this for the 12 Challenge that I'm participating in. ★★★★★

First line: At dusk they pour from the sky.

To really touch something, she is learning--the bark of a sycamore tree in the gardens; a pinned stag beetle in the Department of Etymology; the exquisitely polished interior of a scallop shell in Dr. Gefford's workshop--is to love it. (p. 30)

Last lines: She listens until his footsteps fade. Until all she can hear are the sighs of cars and the rumble of trains and the sound everyone hurrying through the cold.