534 Results in the "Historical Fiction" category


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      Boulangerie

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      by testsuphomeAdmin Werner returns to a French house with blue-trimmed windows, haunted by fantasies of meeting the resident—a former broadcaster—and bonding over shared intellectual pursuits. However, he knows the reality is grim: the old man would likely fear arrest or execution for possessing a radio antenna. Torn between duty and curiosity, Werner rehearses a French greeting, hoping to appear nonthreatening. As he lingers in the fog, the door opens, but instead of the expected scientist, a blind girl emerges, her…
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      Grotto

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter opens with a dramatic scene where a German antiair battery shoots down an American plane off the coast of Paramé. The captured pilot becomes a topic of conversation in the town, with Madame Ruelle admiring his appearance while Etienne views the event as a tragedy. Marie-Laure, the blind protagonist, remains hopeful as she senses the Americans advancing and the Germans weakening. Her daily routine includes reading *Twenty Thousand Leagues* to Etienne, a ritual that mirrors their own uncertain…
    • All the Light We Cannot See Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin All the Light We Can­not See is a beau­ti­ful­ly writ­ten his­tor­i­cal nov­el that tells the par­al­lel sto­ries of Marie-Lau­re, a blind French girl, and Wern­er, a Ger­man orphan and gift­ed radio tech­ni­cian, whose paths con­verge dur­ing World War II in the occu­pied French town of Saint-Malo. Marie-Lau­re flees Paris with her father as the Nazis invade, car­ry­ing a mys­te­ri­ous and poten­tial­ly cursed dia­mond from…
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      The Beams

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter "The Beams" depicts a tense moment during an artillery bombardment, with Werner and Volkheimer sheltering in a cellar. Shells explode overhead, shaking the foundations as Werner imagines the meticulous calculations of the American artillerymen—cold, precise, and detached, much like divine intervention. The scene underscores the dehumanizing nature of war, where destruction is reduced to numbers and coordinates. Amid the chaos, Volkheimer shares a story about his great-grandfather, a sawyer…
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      The Transmitter

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter "The Transmitter" from *The Transmitter* follows Marie-Laure, a blind girl in war-torn Saint-Malo, as she attempts to operate an old radio transmitter hidden in her attic. The device, built by her uncle Etienne, represents a fragile hope of communication amidst the chaos. Marie-Laure carefully navigates the attic, relying on her heightened senses to locate the machine and its components. She imagines Etienne might still be alive, perhaps listening for a signal, and resolves to broadcast despite…
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      Voice

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      by testsuphomeAdmin Trapped beneath the ruins of the Hotel of Bees, Werner, weakened by hunger and fever, hears a girl's voice through his transceiver. The voice, speaking flawless French, recounts a dramatic scene from Jules Verne's *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea*, describing the *Nautilus* colliding with an iceberg. Werner questions whether the voice is real or a hallucination, but he clings to it desperately, captivated by its clarity and urgency. The girl's vivid narration—complete with precise diction and…
    • Edge of the World Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter opens with Werner and Volkheimer traveling in an Opel truck, where Volkheimer reads a letter from Werner's sister, Jutta. The letter contains mundane updates from home, including a note of congratulations from a mining official and Frau Elena's smoking habits. Meanwhile, Werner is haunted by a hallucination of a red-haired child floating above the road, a spectral presence that follows him relentlessly. This ghostly figure, with its unblinking bullet hole, symbolizes the trauma and guilt Werner…
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      Numbers

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter opens with Reinhold von Rumpel receiving a grim medical diagnosis: a throat tumor measuring four centimeters and an unmeasurable intestinal tumor. The doctor gives him three to four months to live, a prognosis that weighs heavily on von Rumpel as he attends a dinner party. Amidst discussions of military retreats and losses in Italy, von Rumpel fixates on the limited time he has left—120 sunrises—while ignoring his meal. His financial and physical decline is underscored by his dwindling…
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      May

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter "May" depicts the tense yet vibrant atmosphere of Saint-Malo in late May 1944, as Marie-Laure navigates the city's sensory richness. The air is thick with the scents of myrtle, magnolia, and wisteria, creating a paradoxical backdrop to the impending cataclysm of war. Marie-Laure's routine visit to Madame Ruelle's bakery becomes a moment of unexpected intimacy when the baker, unusually emotional, gifts her an oversized loaf and a cabbage while delivering a cryptic message: "The mermaids have…
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      Hunting (Again)

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      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter "Hunting (Again)" depicts Werner and his team's relentless search for elusive radio broadcasts in the war-torn towns of Saint-Malo and its surroundings. Their efforts yield little success, as they encounter only propaganda and fragmented Morse code amidst the crumbling infrastructure and displaced civilians. The oppressive atmosphere is heightened by the presence of conscripted laborers and the stark contrast between the once-vibrant streets and their current desolation. Werner's technical…
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