'All the Light We Cannot See' becomes a star of the holiday season
'Light' was published in May but has stayed visible due to acclaim like a nomination for the National Book Awards. Now many independent bookstores say Anthony Doerr's novel is one of their top sellers.
'All the Light We Cannot See' is by Anthony Doerr.
鈥淎ll the Light We Cannot See,鈥� Anthony Doerr鈥檚 novel about a German boy and a French girl living during World War II, was first published this past May but is turning into one of the top sellers of the holiday season.聽
鈥淟ight,鈥� which is by 鈥淭he Shell Collector鈥� writer Doerr, centers on Werner, a German boy with a talent for fixing radios who joins the Hitler Youth, and Marie-Laure, a blind girl who ends up in Saint-Malo as her country is under attack. Meanwhile, Marie-Laure may have a valuable jewel in her possession. The Monitor named the novel as one of the best works of fiction of 2014, with Monitor fiction critic Yvonne Zipp writing, 鈥淢arie-Laure, Werner, and their companions are so compelling, readers don鈥檛 need a shiny trinket to keep turning pages鈥� [this] may be [Doerr's] best work to date.鈥�
鈥淟ight鈥� has stayed steadily on bestseller lists since its publication and in the months since became a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction.
Now it鈥檚 one of the bestselling titles of the holiday season. Multiple bookstores reported to industry newsletter that copies of 鈥淟ight鈥� are flying out the door. Salt Lake City鈥檚 King鈥檚 English Bookshop co-owner Anne Holman told Shelf Awareness they鈥檙e selling copies of the novel 鈥渉and over fist.鈥�
Daniel Goldin, owner of Milwaukee鈥檚 Boswell Book Company, told a similar story. 鈥淩eally, Anthony Doerr is blowing everything away,鈥� he said.聽