All the Light We Cannot See - wikipedia All the Light We Cannot See All the Light We Cannot See Author Anthony Doerr Country United States Language English Genre Historical Published 2014 ( Scribner ) Media type Print ( hardback ) Pages 544 ISBN 978 - 1 - 4767 - 4658 - 6 OCLC 852226410 All the Light We Cannot See is a novel written by American author Anthony Doerr, published by Scribner on May 6, 2014. It won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links Plot Set in occupied France during World War II, the novel centers on a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths eventually cross. In 1934, 6 year old Marie - Laure LeBlanc is the daughter of a widowed master locksmith at the Museum of Natural History in Paris whom she often accompanies to work. Marie suffered from rapidly deteriorating eyesight secondary to juvenile cataracts, becoming fully blind at the age of 6. Her father enriches her environment, crafting a wooden scale - model of their neighborhood in Paris for her to memorize by touch. He spends hours walking with her to various points in the actual neighborhood and supervising her so that she is eventually able to navigate independently. He uses her birthday as an opportunity to develop her sense of touch, providing increasingly intricate puzzle boxes every year. Her father provides new novels in braille to read. She becomes entranced by the imagined worlds like those that she explores in her edition of Jules Verne 's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The museum where Marie - Laure 's father works as a locksmith is rumored to house an exquisite blue diamond of immeasurable value, with beautiful dancing `` red flames '' at its center : According to legend, however, the diamond is cursed : whoever keeps the `` Sea of Flames '' can not die but their loved ones will be stricken with unending misfortunes. Meanwhile, in Germany, 8 - year - old Werner Pfennig is an orphan in the coal - mining town of Zollverein. He and his sister Jutta find a broken short - wave radio behind the Children 's Home where they live. Werner manages to repair the radio and his natural skill for circuitry becomes apparent. He and Jutta tune in and listen to a variety of programs, including a regular broadcast from France hosted by an older gentleman who shares stories about the world of science, skillfully framed so that even younger listeners can understand. When Germany invades France in 1940, Marie - Laure and her father flee from Paris to the coastal town of Saint - Malo to take refuge with her great - uncle Etienne, a recluse suffering shell - shock from the Great War. Etienne spends all his days indoors, but reveals to Marie - Laure that along with his deceased brother Henri, the two used to broadcast lessons to children from a large radio inside the chimney, with these lessons being the ones Werner and Jutta listened to. Unbeknownst to Marie - Laure, her father has been entrusted with the Sea of Flames or one of three exact copies. The four jewels look very much alike, although three are worthless fakes. As a diversion, each of the four is given to a different protector, none of whom knows whether his blue stone is the real priceless gem or the look - alike fake. Each protector is charged to keep his jewel out of the Germans ' hands. Marie - Laure 's father conceals his stone in a small wooden replica of Etienne 's house, a removable puzzle box which fits within the city model he makes of Saint - Malo. This model is placed at the foot of Marie - Laure 's bed, where she spends hours learning the new town with her fingers before finally venturing out. The father, who has been noticed drawing buildings and measuring distances in the town, is arrested by the Germans on suspicion of espionage and disappears into the Nazi prison camp system, leaving Marie - Laure alone with Etienne and Madame Manec, ( who is Etienne 's longtime maid and housekeeper ). Soon, a Nazi gemologist, Sergeant Major Reinhold von Rumpel, is tasked with evaluating confiscated jewels, and eventually set out on the trail of the Sea of Flames. He has a malignant tumor and becomes ill during his search, which he still continues while he endures treatment and the ravages of the relapse. He finds his way to the Natural History Museum and learns that duplicate gems have been made. He traces each of them. The legend of immortality that is bestowed by the jewel is something he learns, and although he does not fully believe it, he clings to a hope that it might after all be true and that possession of the real jewel might save him from the growing tumors. Meanwhile, Madame Manec participates in the Resistance along with other local women. These activities have some success, but Madame Manec becomes ill and unable to participate. With Marie - Laure 's father imprisoned, and Etienne unable to go outdoors, Marie - Laure begins to make trips to the bakery store to collect notes hidden within bread loaves, containing information that Etienne broadcasts from his radio. Werner 's passion for science and his gift for radio mechanics earn him a place at a nightmarish training school for the Nazi military elite where, he 's told, `` You will all surge in the same direction at the same pace toward the same cause... You will eat country and breathe nation. '' Werner obeys, and his discipline and scientific aptitude carry him into the Wehrmacht, where he proves adept at finding the senders of illegal radio transmissions. Werner works with Volkheimer, a large soldier coming from the same school as Werner. But he is increasingly sickened by what happens when he tracks a radio signal to its source and a young girl is killed. He is also haunted by his memories of the Frenchman 's broadcasts, which remind him of a time when science seemed an instrument of wonder, not death. Werner and Marie - Laure 's paths converge in 1944, when Allied forces have landed on the beaches of Normandy and Werner 's unit is dispatched to Saint - Malo to trace and destroy the sender of mysterious intelligence broadcasts. Etienne and Marie - Laure have been making these broadcasts for the French Resistance. Werner ultimately decides to allow the broadcasts to continue and eventually saves Marie - Laure from von Rumpel. Although only together for a short time, they form a strong bond. As they flee from Saint - Malo, Marie - Laure places the Sea of Flames inside a grotto flooded with seawater from the tide. Werner sends Marie - Laure away into safety but becomes gravely ill. Just as he begins to recover, he accidentally steps on a landmine at night in a fit of delirium, which immediately kills him. Thirty years later, Jutta, Werner 's sister, receives information from Werner 's old associate and friend, Frank Volkheimer, that contains information on Werner 's death as well as a house from the model that Marie - Laure 's father had made. Jutta travels to France with her son Max, where she meets Marie - Laure in the museum at which her father had worked. Marie - Laure discovers that the miniature house in which the Sea of Flames had been hidden, which she put to sea with Werner in a hidden grotto in Saint - Malo, was with Werner when he died. In it, she finds the key to the grotto. The story ends with Marie - Laure, now 86 years old, walking with her grandson in the streets of Paris where she grew up. Characters Marie - Laure LeBlanc -- A blind French girl, one of the main characters. Werner Pfennig -- A German orphan boy, very scientifically gifted. Second main character. Daniel LeBlanc -- Marie - Laure 's father and the head locksmith at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris Sergeant Major Reinhold von Rumpel -- a sergeant major and gemologist in the German army Etienne LeBlanc -- Marie - Laure 's great - uncle and a resident of Saint - Malo Madame Manec -- Etienne 's longtime maid Jutta Pfennig -- Werner 's sister Frau Elena -- caretaker of Werner and Jutta in the orphanage Hauptmann -- Werner 's professor at Schulpforta Frederick -- Werner 's friend, very strong - willed. Frank Volkheimer -- Werner 's friend, soldier in Nazi army. Reception This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( March 2017 ) As of August 21, 2016, the book had spent 118 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. The New York Times also named it one of its 10 best books of the year. The novel was shortlisted for the National Book Award. Sales tripled the week after it lost to Redeployment by Phil Klay. The novel won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. The novel was runner - up for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction and won the 2015 Ohioana Library Association Book Award for Fiction. References Jump up ^ Busch, Alison. `` All the Light We Cannot See : Top Destinations From the Novel ''. Auto Europe Travel Blog. Retrieved 20 May 2015. Jump up ^ `` Best Sellers -- The New York Times ''. www.nytimes.com. August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Alter, Alexandra ( December 26, 2014 ). `` Anthony 's Doerr 's ' All the Light We Cannot See ' Hits It Big ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved September 26, 2015. Jump up ^ `` The 10 Best Books of 2014 ''. The New York Times. December 4, 2014. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved September 26, 2015. Jump up ^ Alex Shephard ( October 15, 2014 ). `` National Book Awards shortlists announced ''. Melville House Publishing. Retrieved October 15, 2014. Jump up ^ Flood, Alison ( April 21, 2015 ). `` Pulitzer prize for fiction goes to All the Light We Cannot See ''. The Guardian. Guardian News & Media. Retrieved April 21, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Anthony Doerr wins Carnegie Medal for fiction ''. Midcontinent Communications. Associated Press. June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` ' All the Light We Cannot See, ' ' Just Mercy : A Story of Justice and Redemption ' win 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction News and Press Center ''. www.ala.org. July 1, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015. Jump up ^ D. Verne Morland. `` Dayton Literary Peace Prize -- Anthony Doerr, 2015 Fiction Runner - Up ''. daytonliterarypeaceprize.org. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2015 - 09 - 05. Retrieved 2015 - 12 - 02. External links Official website Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1918 -- 1925 His Family by Ernest Poole ( 1918 ) The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington ( 1919 ) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton ( 1921 ) Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington ( 1922 ) One of Ours by Willa Cather ( 1923 ) The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson ( 1924 ) So Big by Edna Ferber ( 1925 ) 1926 -- 1950 Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis ( declined ) ( 1926 ) Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield ( 1927 ) The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder ( 1928 ) Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin ( 1929 ) Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge ( 1930 ) Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes ( 1931 ) The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck ( 1932 ) The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling ( 1933 ) Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Pafford Miller ( 1934 ) Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson ( 1935 ) Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis ( 1936 ) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell ( 1937 ) The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand ( 1938 ) The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ( 1939 ) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ( 1940 ) In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow ( 1942 ) Dragon 's Teeth by Upton Sinclair ( 1943 ) Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin ( 1944 ) A Bell for Adano by John Hersey ( 1945 ) All the King 's Men by Robert Penn Warren ( 1947 ) Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener ( 1948 ) Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens ( 1949 ) The Way West by A.B. 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Scott Momaday ( 1969 ) The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford ( 1970 ) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ( 1972 ) The Optimist 's Daughter by Eudora Welty ( 1973 ) The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 Humboldt 's Gift by Saul Bellow ( 1976 ) Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson ( 1978 ) The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever ( 1979 ) The Executioner 's Song by Norman Mailer ( 1980 ) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ( 1981 ) Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike ( 1982 ) The Color Purple by Alice Walker ( 1983 ) Ironweed by William Kennedy ( 1984 ) Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie ( 1985 ) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ( 1986 ) A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor ( 1987 ) Beloved by Toni Morrison ( 1988 ) Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler ( 1989 ) The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos ( 1990 ) Rabbit at Rest by John Updike ( 1991 ) A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley ( 1992 ) A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler ( 1993 ) The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx ( 1994 ) The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields ( 1995 ) Independence Day by Richard Ford ( 1996 ) Martin Dressler : The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser ( 1997 ) American Pastoral by Philip Roth ( 1998 ) The Hours by Michael Cunningham ( 1999 ) Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri ( 2000 ) 2001 -- present The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon ( 2001 ) Empire Falls by Richard Russo ( 2002 ) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides ( 2003 ) The Known World by Edward P. Jones ( 2004 ) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson ( 2005 ) March by Geraldine Brooks ( 2006 ) The Road by Cormac McCarthy ( 2007 ) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz ( 2008 ) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ( 2009 ) Tinkers by Paul Harding ( 2010 ) A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan ( 2011 ) No award given ( 2012 ) The Orphan Master 's Son by Adam Johnson ( 2013 ) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ( 2014 ) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ( 2015 ) The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen ( 2016 ) The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead ( 2017 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=All_the_Light_We_Cannot_See&oldid=812639374 '' Categories : 2014 American novels Charles Scribner 's Sons books Novels set in France Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - winning works World War II novels Hidden categories : Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles to be expanded from March 2017 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español فارسی Français Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Polski Português Русский Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 November 2017, at 00 : 50. 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Question: who wrote all the light you cannot see
Answer: Anthony Doerr