All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

"What the war did to dreamers" - that's what the book is about.

The book weaves two stories: of a father and his blind daughter living in France and of an orphan boy and his younger sister living in Germany during WWII.

The relationship of the father and daughter is heartwarming. When the girl goes blind, the father carves a wooden miniature model of their neighborhood so she can learn her way around by touch. For her Christmas and birthday presents she receives a book, which she cherishes greatly and puzzles carved by her father, which she learns to solve quicker and quicker; making her father laugh that he needs to make them harder and harder. The war forces them to move from Paris to Saint Malo, where her uncle lives. There the father builds her another wooden miniature model of the new place. Here she develops a relationship with her uncle that affects him in a positive way.

The other story of the orphan boy, whose fascination and talent of building and fixing radios or anything that would transmit voice wins him a place at academy for Hitler Youth. The image of the brutal academy is very vivid and heart-wrenching. His talent takes him from school to an assignment to track resistance, during which time his eyes slowly open. He sees what his sister saw before, that Hitler wasn't about goodness. Fight against resistance takes him to Saint Malo where he meets the blind girl and gets a chance to do the right thing. Not every story has a happy ending. I wished this one had a different one.

The book weaves other `threads' into the story of gemologist and perfumer and how the war effects their professions.

Many talents of the author surface through this story: his research, beautiful language, vivid scenes. This all results in an engrossing tale wrapped around many aspects of human heart.

The story will linger with you long after you finish the book.

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