The best, most enjoyable and worthy novel of 2019, already... And Ships Pass in the Night.

Why wait? The sooner you are aware of this wonderful novel I found, the sooner you can be loving it on your own!!

"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. Hands down, best novel I read this past year. No contest.

Get ready to fall in love with Saint-Malo, France.  You already love Paris, of course.

Get ready to learn how a little boy in desperate circumstances in the Nazi era in Germany learns to build a radio with the materials on hand and available. Be amazed when, by chance, this knowledge gives him access to a powerful Nazi who sees his value to the nation and helps him advance to a  special school for Nazi tech leaders.

This lad is not a Nazi himself, he is not political. He is an orphan, trying to protect his little sister. Who understands electronics in those early days.


But wait. There are two novels at work in this wonderful story: in France there is a young girl, Marie-Laure, who went blind at an early age.  Her father holds all the keys and secrets of a Paris museum. And he constantly trains his young, blind daughter to know (by counting her steps, for example) where she is at all times.....and how to locate things she knows about. After Paris is invaded by the Nazis, the two travel on foot most of the way to Saint-Malo.

Her relative in Saint-Malo also built a radio, many decades before-- that was heard by the boy and his little sister in Germany.

There is a wildly precious gem in the Paris museum, btw.  Everybody wants to find or keep hidden this wonderful gem.   No one wants the Nazis to get the jewel. The father hides the gem near the little girl. She finds it, not knowing what it is.

All roads lead to the meeting between the two kids. One of the scariest literary scenes I've read: when the evil Nazi jeweler (one of the few expert jewelers in Europe who was not Jewish) gets into her vacant (except for her) 5 or 6 story, picturesque home in Saint-Malo and starts padding around. She's stone blind, remember. She's well hidden, but he doesn't leave and he knows she's there. And he knows about the gem.

Update to last summer: while we were in Rome, we had an (undeserved) connection to the American Academy in Rome, where Anthony Doerr was staying (as some American artists do when visiting Rome.) Our son invited us to participate in a service project sponsored by the Academy; we would have gladly done it, except we had imposed on the kids too much. We needed to go off together and gain experience touring the city alone.

Alas....guess who was on the service project??? You got it. Anthony Doerr. But! I owned the novel at that time, but had not read it.  I did not know how great it is.    Ships pass in the night.

The Doorways of Viterbo

These are just a few of the unique, stately doorways (entrances to private homes, courts, etc?) that were easy to find when walking in Viterbo. The Middle Ages is still on show. See the worn doorstep on the example below. (Multi-thousand feet entering and leaving over the centuries.)

Currently, I'm interested in Boro stitched mending effects on antique Japanese Kimonos; the appearance of the  doorway above provides a similar idea with the various wood and irregular patterns.

This one is a favorite. A little photo editing, polishing, printing and I have a pretty illustration for a card to send to someone, someday.

The streets feel haunted. "Is it so hard to believe that souls might also travel those paths?" wonders Anthony Doerr near the final pages of his wonderful novel "All the Light We Cannot See". He did not write about Rome or Viterbo for this novel, but what matter? The ancient setting evokes the same feeling. Am I wrong?