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I was leant this book by a friend who loved it. I’d heard the title around for a long time and always meant to get around to reading it somewhen.

Marie-Laure is a French girl who became blind as a child, her father is the locksmith for a massive museum in Paris. When the Naxis invade, they flee to his Uncle’s in Saint Malo, keeping safe something from the museum.
Werner is a German orphan, brought up in a mining area with his sister, but he teaches himself to repair radios and transmitters, and ends up in a school for elite military training.

The book alternates between their two stories throughout, as well as jumping from before the war to late in the war and back again. I don’t mind a parallel storyline, and I enjoy a dual perspective, but following both was occasionally a bit much, especially when an occasional third perspective came in!

It’s extremely readable and engaging, you really get a feel for the horrors of the time, especially the stuff in August 1944 during the siege of Saint Malo. There were a handful of Americanisms in the text, which sort of pulled you out of the story for a second, but it wasn’t too often. The only other thing that bothered me was the tiny romance storyline, which to me felt a little shoehorned in, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Next stop will be watching the Netflix adaptation.