All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr published in 2014. This historical fiction novel alternates between the lives of its two central characters: Marie-Laure Leblanc, a girl who grows up in Paris and loses her eyesight to cataracts at age six, and Werner Pfennig, a boy from a German mining town who joins the Nazi military to escape working in the mines.

In August 1944, Marie-Laure and Werner are both trapped in the French seaside city of Saint-Malo as Allied forces bomb and besiege the city. Alternating chapters recount each character’s life prior to this climactic scene. The novel explores themes of Entrapment and Escape, Light as a Source of Hope, and Lost and Redeemed Humanity. All the Light We Cannot See has also achieved popularity among the BookTok community. It is the second of Doerr’s novels, which also include About Grace (2004) and Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021).

This guide refers to the 2014 hardcover edition published by Scribner.

Content Warning: This study guide and source text depict antisemitism, war, bullying, and violence, including violence against children, as well as rape and sexual assault.