Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 3 September 2015 | Page 19

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE Book Reviews All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Review by Alyson Hilbourne All The Light We Cannot See is the story of a blind girl, Marie Laure and a young German orphan, Werner Pfennig. Although their stories are entwined throughout the book they only meet for a few hours over the years covered by the text. Werner and his sister listened to radio stations during their childhood, including broadcasts by Marie Laure’s grandfather and great uncle. As time passes Marie Laure’s uncle works for the resistance in France and Werner works as a radio technician tracking the illegal broadcasts of people like him. Marie Laure and Werner’s paths cross in the ruins of St Malo, France, as World War Two enters its final days. The story is beautifully told in short alternating chapters, one from Marie Laure’s point of view and the next from Werner’s. Both perspectives manage to encapsulate the feelings of the time: Marie Laure’s fear at being evacuated and ending up in an unknown environment, where getting around is particularly difficult; Werner’s initial pride and then disappointment in the special school he was sent to. The two main characters are beautifully drawn, but so are the lesser characters. The story moves apace, romping backwards and forwards though the years, and yet Doerr’s style of writing is quite languid with long vivid descriptions full of sound and smells. A poignant tale, beautifully written, and a book to savour. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson Review by Alyson Hilbourne This is the second of Jandy Nelson’s books I have read and like the first I very much enjoyed it. The Sky is Everywhere is a young adult novel about a teenage girl, Lennie, whose older sister dies suddenly leaving a big gap in an already dysfunctional family. The story plays out Lennie’s grief and tells of her relationships with the people around her, including her sister’s boyfriend, her grandmother, her uncle, her best friend, and her own fledgling love affair. The book is interspersed with notes that Lennie writes in odd places such as on paper coffee cups, on benches, receipts, tickets and bills and even carves into benches and trees. The scribbles show the rapport between the sisters, played out in 19 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5