CLEARFIELD – The AAUW Books-Sandwiched-In series for 2015 concluded with an entertaining review given by Elizabeth Stumpf, a retired middle school librarian of Clearfield Area School District.
The book Stumpf chose to review was the “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. Stumpf recounted how she came across a review of the book, which described it as one of the best books the reviewer had ever read; the book was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award for fiction.
Stumpf immediately decided to use the book for her presentation. In a humorous aside, Stumpf remarked that you should never commit to reviewing a book you have not yet read.
The book is set in France and Germany before and during World War II. Stumpf described the novel as having something for everyone. Within its pages are spies, a villain, true friendships, a brief love story, a recounting of the schooling of German children during the Nazi era and a look into what civilian life was like in World War II Europe.
That being said, Stumpf cautioned future readers that the beginning of the book is confusing, jumping back and forth between locations, characters and time. However, Stumpf encouraged readers to persevere, characterizing the book as “a very good story with interesting characters.”
The two main characters are Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a Parisian teenage girl who has been blind from the age of 6 years, and Werner Pfenning, a German orphan with a genius for the new technology of radios and transmitters, which will become such a valuable skill during the war. The story goes back and forth between Marie-Laure and Werner through their childhood and into the war years where eventually their lives intersect.
Because of Werner’s technical skills the war years, find him placed with a team of Nazi soldiers whose job is to track down illegal transmissions in occupied France and to eliminate anyone involved. Marie-Laure and her father have fled from Paris to Great Uncle Etienne, who lives in Saint-Malo. There, after the arrest of her father, Marie-Laure joins her great uncle in working for the resistance by transmitting coordinates via radio.
Meanwhile Reinhold Von Rumpel, a Nazi officer searching out valuables and art treasures to seize for the Nazis, is searching for a famous jewel from the Museum of Natural History in Paris. To protect this treasure, the head of the museum has had four brilliant copies made. At the time of the invasion, the copies and original gem are given to separate individuals, including Marie-Laure’s father who works at the museum. Von Rumpel picks up their trail and follows them to Saint-Malo. It is in this town where the various threads of the story come together.
Stumpf described the author as being a very good descriptive writer and read several passages from the book to illustrate the author’s talent. She noted that although this is not her favorite book, the writing is beautiful. Stumpf also highly recommended a second novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak for readers who enjoy books set during World War II.
Gwen Crandell, AAUW member, thanked Stumpf for her presentation. She also thanked the audience for their attendance throughout the month-long series. She reminded the group that proceeds from Books-Sandwiched-In benefit the Interrupted Studies Scholarship, which the AAUW group awards to an area resident each year. In closing, Crandell encouraged those in the audience to consider being presenters in next year’s Books-Sandwiched-In series.
“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak are available for check out or hold at Shaw Public Library.
The library is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m., and Fridays from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. Additional information may also be found on Shaw Public Library’s Web site at http://www.clearfield.org/shaw.