All the Light We Cannot SeeAll the Light We Cannot See
Score Modern
What it's about
Marie-Laure, blind since six, lives in Paris with her father, who builds her a miniature of their neighborhood so she can learn its streets by touch. When the Nazis occupy France, they flee to her great-uncle's house in the walled seaside town of Saint-Malo, carrying something precious. Meanwhile Werner, a German orphan with a gift for fixing radios, is recruited into an elite Nazi academy and sent to track the Resistance. Their paths converge in the bombing of Saint-Malo in 1944.
Why it's worth reading
It's a beautifully written, deeply humane story about two children trying to stay good in a war, and it won the Pulitzer Prize while also becoming a huge bestseller. The short chapters make a long book fly by.
You'll love it if you liked
The Book Thief
The Women
Cloud Cuckoo LandGood to know
It jumps between two timelines and two main characters, which takes a few chapters to settle into. The war violence is real but not graphic.
By the numbers
- Readers90 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics77 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller92 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz3 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #2 of the 116 historical novels we rank
- #2 of the 309 literary novels we rank
- #7 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #15 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
More by Anthony Doerr
If you like this, read next
The Underground Railroad
A Gentleman in Moscow
My Brilliant Friend
A Fine Balance
Memoirs of a Geisha
HHhHExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is All the Light We Cannot See worth reading?
Yes. It's a beautifully written, deeply humane story about two children trying to stay good in a war, and it won the Pulitzer Prize while also becoming a huge bestseller. It ranks #15 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 92.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is All the Light We Cannot See about?
Marie-Laure, blind since six, lives in Paris with her father, who builds her a miniature of their neighborhood so she can learn its streets by touch. When the Nazis occupy France, they flee to her great-uncle's house in the walled seaside town of Saint-Malo, carrying something precious. Meanwhile Werner, a German orphan with a gift for fixing radios, is recruited into an elite Nazi academy and sent to track the Resistance. Their paths converge in the bombing of Saint-Malo in 1944.
How long does it take to read All the Light We Cannot See?
About 13 hours (531 pages), or about 4 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has All the Light We Cannot See won?
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2015).
What should I read after All the Light We Cannot See?
If you liked it, try The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Women by Kristin Hannah or Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.