Maurie-Laure goes blind at age six but her loving father carefully teaches her how to get around Paris by making a tiny model of her neighborhood that she can explore with her fingers. Werner lives in a orphan home in Germany with his little sister, but loves learning about science and electricity and hopes educating himself with allow him to escape working in the mine that took his father's life. As the two children grow up, they get caught up in the vicious winds of World War II. Werner becomes a radio technician for the occupying German army in the same French city where Maurie-Laure and her father have taken refuge with a priceless jewel from the Museum where Maurie-Laure's father used to work as a locksmith. As forces outside their control drive the young people toward their fates, they struggle to keep hold of their humanity and sanity.
This book won a Pulitzer prize in 2015, and for good reason. The writing is stunning! The plot is so well crafted and the characters are deep, complex and very human. Doer unflinchingly puts the reader into the heart of WWII Europe both physically and emotionally. It is the best book I have read, from a literary standpoint, in a very long time.
That said, it was a little hard to read. It is so realistic that I felt the heaviness of the character's lives and struggles, and it made me feel depressed and hopeless all week. I am a bit of a literature wimp I guess. Or more accurately, I enjoy escapist literature, but escaping to the middle of WWII is no picnic. Still, even with the emotional weight it brought, I didn't once think of not finishing it. It really is amazing. (2014, 544 p)
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