And There Was Light

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And There Was Light, by Jacques Lusseyran

I can't remember now who recommended this book on her blog, so if it was you, tell me so I can thank you!

Jacques Lusseyran lost his sight in an accident when he was about 8 years old, and the first half of the book is about his experiences coping with blindness. I don't know if I should say "coping" because that's not how he tells it at all; it's an amazing story, and I can't do it justice.

Then, when Lusseyran was a teenager, the Germans invaded France. He describes living in occupied Paris, and how he and his friends started a resistance organization. That's also an amazing story! Before too long they joined up with the rest of the French Resistance. They were nearly all still under 18, which gave them something of an advantage. Their unit was eventually betrayed and Lusseyran spent the remainder of the war in a concentration camp, but he spends very little time on that period.

This was a great book and I plan to make all my friends read it. I always have trouble properly describing the books I really like, so you'll have to take my word for it, but go read it!

I'm also counting it as a biography for the Mixing It Up Challenge, which I seem to be burning through. I guess I like a lot of different kinds of books.

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