All the Light We Cannot See

Reinhold von Rumpel is given three or four months to live. He receives a phone call that takes him from an elaborate dinner party, where the discussion focuses on the retreating German armies. His French informant tells von Rumpel of Daniel LeBlanc, the locksmith, and his connection to Saint-Malo. Von Rumpel has identified the final diamond courier.

During the last days of May, rumors spread through the resistance that the Allied forces are coming within the week. Marie-Laure sits with her snails in the grotto, dreaming of her father’s return.

Werner and his team search day and night but cannot find the radio transceiver. Werner sees the dead red-haired little girl walking the halls of the Hotel of Bees, hunting him.

The next page contains a letter written by Werner to his sister, Jutta. In it, he describes the sea, its many moods and colors, and how it seems to him large enough to contain all of his feelings.

Werner finally locates the partisan broadcast and immediately recognizes the Frenchman’s voice from the broadcasts he and Jutta listened to as children. When the broadcast ends with “Claire de Lune,” Werner is certain. He is equally certain that he cannot report the Frenchman.

Werner locates the antenna at Number 4 rue Vauborel, confirming the Frenchman’s broadcast location. Aware that he is committing treason, he says nothing of his discovery.

Big Claude, the perfumer, tells von Rumpel where the LeBlancs live.

Werner stands outside Number 4 rue Varbourel. As he tries to gather the courage to knock on the door, a young girl comes out. Werner is immediately struck by her grace and watches her walk away; she doesn’t notice him.

Marie-Laure picks up her loaf of bread and walks to the grotto. As she is leaving, she is startled by the voice of a German soldier. He wishes to ask her about her father. She panics and locks the gate, locking herself inside the grotto, and waits for him to leave.

When Marie-Laure does not return home on time, Etienne becomes worried. He does not know what to do. There is no one else to send to look for her. He works up his courage and steps outside for the first time in 24 years.

The German calls out questions to Marie-Laure from the other side of the gate. The water inside the grotto is cold, even in July. She fishes inside the loaf, finds the incriminating paper, and eats it. The German tells her that he will go away if she tells him what, if anything, her father left her or carried away from Paris for the museum. She says that her father left her nothing but the model and a broken promise.

Etienne arrives at the bakery, and the baker’s wife, Madame Ruelle, helps Etienne find Marie-Laure. Etienne remembers the little grotto where he used to play as a child. Despite Etienne’s agoraphobia, which grows into distortions of sight and sound as he searches, he rescues Marie-Laure.

Werner thinks of the girl. As the war turns even more desperate, Neumann One and Neumann Two are needed at the front. Volkheimer tells Werner that in the end they will all be thrown into the front lines to fight. Werner knows that he will pretend that night that he hears nothing when the Frenchman transmits his broadcast.

Ever since he rescued her from the grotto, Etienne collects the bread; he will not allow Marie-Laure to expose herself to any more danger. As she thinks over what the German said to her, she realizes what the clues in her father’s letter mean: she opens the puzzle of Etienne’s house, in the model her father left, and a stone drops into her hand.

Madame Ruelle, the baker’s wife, tells Etienne that he must get coordinates of the walls for the American gunners. Liberation is only days away, yet the precise coordinates will save lives. The Germans plan to imprison all the French men at Fort National when the battle nears. Etienne has little time to act.

Marie-Laure debates what to do with the stone, telling herself that it can’t be the real Sea of Flames. However, she does realize that this is the stone that the German soldier seeks. She is tempted to throw it away or confide in her great-uncle.

Etienne leaves the house before dawn to complete his mission. He tells Marie-Laure that he’ll be home soon.

As Etienne approaches the ramparts, feeling happy to be risking his life to help the resistance, a German soldier limps toward him.

Marie-Laure wakes to the sound of guns. Etienne has not returned. She tries not to worry and sits down to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. She has nine chapters left to go. She decides to wait for Etienne before she finishes the book. Big Claude, the perfumer, arrives at the door and tries to convince her to leave the city. She refuses to go with him or to leave the house.

The Americans have the Germans pinned against the sea. After dinner, leaflets rain down on the city, imploring the residents to leave the city for open ground.