Doerr's first book was a collection of short stories called The Shell Collector (2002). Many of the stories take place in countries within Africa and New Zealand, where he has worked and lived. His first novel, About Grace, was released in 2004. His memoir, Four Seasons in Rome, was published in 2007, and his second collection of short stories, Memory Wall, was published in 2010.

Doerr's second novel, All the Light We Cannot See, is set in occupied France during World War II and was published in 2014. It received significant critical acclaim and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. The book was a New York Times bestseller, and was named by the newspaper as a notable book of 2014. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015. It was runner-up for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction and won the 2015 Ohioana Library Association Book Award for Fiction.

Doerr writes a column on science books for The Boston Globe and is a contributor to The Morning News, an online magazine.

From 2007 to 2010, he was the Writer in Residence for the state of Idaho.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home.

When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance.

More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

Reviews

“Incandescent…A luminous work of strife and transcendence.” - O, The Oprah Magazine

“Hauntingly beautiful.” - New York Times

“Enthralling told, beautifully written.” - Washington Post

“Gorgeous...Moves with the pace of a thriller.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Dazzling.” - Boston Globe

“Stupendous…A beautiful, daring, heartbreaking, oddly joyous novel.” - Seattle Times

“The written equivalent of a Botticelli.” - Oregonian

“This novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece…Highly recommended.” - Library Journal

“Doerr masterfully and knowledgeably recreates the deprived civilian conditions of war-torn France and the strictly controlled lives of the military occupiers.” - Booklist

“Doerr captures the sights and sounds of wartime and focuses, refreshingly, on the innate goodness of his major characters.” - Kirkus Reviews

“If a book’s success can be measured by its ability to move readers and the number of memorable characters it has, Story Prize winner Doerr’s novel triumphs on both counts.” - Publishers Weekly

“This jewel of a story is put together like a vintage timepiece, its many threads coming together so perfectly. Doerr’s writing and imagery are stunning.” - Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

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