Sometimes, there is just a book that comes out and takes over audiences. For many, that was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It roped me in, took over my days, and was one of those books that I just couldn’t put down. It made me want to start reading more often again and was just one of those stories I knew would one day be adapted.
That’s what is happening with this new Netflix series, arriving November 2! And the first teaser trailer is a beautiful look into why this book was so captivating in the first place.
What we know about the series from Netflix is as follows:
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See is a groundbreaking limited series that follows the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl and her father, Daniel LeBlanc, who flee German-occupied Paris with a legendary diamond to keep it from falling into the hands of the Nazis. Relentlessly pursued by a cruel Gestapo officer who seeks to possess the stone for his own selfish means, Marie-Laure and Daniel soon find refuge in St. Malo, where they take up residence with a reclusive uncle who transmits clandestine radio broadcasts as part of the resistance. Yet here in this once-idyllic seaside city, Marie-Laure’s path also collides inexorably with the unlikeliest of kindred spirits: Werner, a brilliant teenager enlisted by Hitler’s regime to track down illegal broadcasts, who instead shares a secret connection to Marie-Laure as well as her faith in humanity and the possibility of hope.
A heart-wrenching story
From the moment I started reading All the Light We Cannot See, I was wrapped up in Marie-Laure LeBlanc and her story of navigating this world with her father Daniel. Just when I thought I didn’t want to leave her part of the story, I found myself fascinated by Werner’s story. The novel jumped back and forth between their stories, Marie-Laure in France with her father and her great-uncle Etienne (Hugh Laurie), while Werner is forced to work on radios for the Nazi army despite not knowing what he’s being thrown into.
Their journey isn’t easy, and seeing how these two storylines converge is what keeps you on the edge of your seat. But even with how difficult some aspects of the story are to read, you’re still invested in their story and journey. And my biggest fear with the television show was whether or not I’d feel that same way.
What the trailer has done is give me hope, because it highlights what parts of the novel I was in love with while showing audiences the beauty of All the Light We Cannot See as a whole. And I love getting to see what Mark Ruffalo and Aria Mia Loberti are bringing to the roles of Daniel and Marie-Laure.
A father and his daughter
As much as I did end up loving Werner’s arc and journey throughout the novel, my heart was always with Marie-Laure. A young girl who loses her vision at a young age and is navigating a new home while blind and without her father, the story is about her connection to him and his work and the relationship they’ve always had together.
As someone who lost my father after reading the novel, I am going to be interested to see where I find my emotions while watching the television show. But to see Daniel’s resilience against the Nazis searching for his diamond mixed with Marie-Laure’s strength when her life has flipped upside down, their arc is by far my favorite in the novel. And I do love that the trailer focuses heavily on them.
Directed by Shawn Levy and written by Steven Knight, the show is going to be a great look into Doerr’s work. And I can’t wait for November 2 now!
(featured image: Katalin Vermes/Netflix)
