I did NOT want to read one more book that dealt with war---too disturbing, too heavy, too horrific, too real!
But....this novel had me by page 7 ---"as the leaflets dropped"---"she could smell the ink."
Short chapters, some only 1-2 pages long, bounce back and forth between the two protagonists; a young blind girl, whose mind has a love of literature and dependence on her dad, who carefully instructs her in order to foster independence, along with the corresponding life of a young German lad, fascinated by science, but orphaned and living with his sister in a children's home.
Hauntingly beautiful is how NYTimes review describes it. (4/28)
Too much info would constitute a spoiler----just know that the author easily and skillfully weaves wartime training, Jules Verne, radio transmissions, museum treasures, a "Sea of Flames'" legendary curse, sabotaging neighbors, snails from the sea, and a sister's insight and conscience into a an intriguing World War II narrative.
Tho it's taken awhile to get through 534 pages, the setting created so much interest that I googled Saint-Malo---and if I were not so averse to the hassle and fears of foreign travel these days, I might put it on my bucket list, because thanks to Doerr, I feel as if I've been there and would like to see what remains.
I didn't like to read it at night because I wouldn't want to put it down......at the same time, it would "key me up" so I had trouble going to sleep. It's not totally absent of language and some vile situations but very,very few considering this was a "war" book. I thought it was a worthy read.
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