All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, aka book #22 of #annareadsbooks2017. .
This is a sublime, masterfully told story. A brilliant young, white haired, mechanically minded German boy and a blind, brave French girl. The confusion, terror and void of the second world war. Radio waves, whelks, the sucking tides of Saint-Malo. Ancient keys. Bombardment and exploding shells. Claire de Lune. Baked bread. Jules Verne. Miniature wooden cities. A jewel of indescribable value. Horror. Magic.
I read this not far from Saint-Malo, further up the coast in Normandy on a 4 day self-imposed writing retreat. The beauty of this novel moved me to tears, nourished my brain and simply inspired me.