Description
Book SynopsisOn the day the Nazis march down the rue de Belleville, fourteen-year-old Maral Pegorian is living with her family in Paris, where, like many other Armenians who survived the genocide in their homeland, her parents have come to build a new life. The adults immediately set about gathering food and provisions, bracing for the deprivation they know all too well—but Maral, her brother Missak, and their close friends Zaven and Barkev are spurred to action of another sort, finding secret and not-so-secret ways to resist their oppressors. When Zaven and Barkev flee to avoid conscription, Maral finally realizes that the Occupation is not simply a temporary outrage to be endured—and when only one brother returns after many fraught months, the contours of Maral’s world are changed irrevocably.
Trade Review“Love blooms just as war tears two people apart . . . Kricorian’s rendering makes good on its promise of drama [and] . . . her heroine’s resilience is exciting.” —The New York Times “Beautifully conjured . . . Kricorian’s touch is light, but the residual impact of war is nonetheless palpable.” —Eleanor J. Bader, In These Times “Moving . . . With a bittersweet love story, examples of everyday heroism, and a community refusing to give in to tyrants, Kricorian’s work sheds even more light on the German occupation of France.” —Library Journal “The first-person narrative nails the blend of daily detail and political history . . . An important addition to the WWII fiction shelves, this is bound to spark discussion.” —Booklist “All the Light There Was offers a vivid picture of life for a minority family in occupied Paris, and author Kricorian effortlessly takes the reader from one year to the next . . . A pleasure to read.” —Historical Novel Society “Immersive as quicksand.” —Portland Book Review “Kricorian’s treatment of family dynamics and love under extreme circumstances creates an emotional read.” —Publishers Weekly “Nancy Kricorian is a gem, her work subtle and nuanced and moving. All the Light There Was brings Nazi-occupied Paris vividly, tragically, and heroically to life.” —Chris Bohjalian, author of The Sandcastle Girls and Midwives
