What the Light Touches Audiobook By Xavier Bosch, Samantha Mateo - translator cover art

What the Light Touches

A Novel

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What the Light Touches

By: Xavier Bosch, Samantha Mateo - translator
Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
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About this listen

Acclaimed author Xavier Bosch weaves an emotional tale of love and intrigue in this novel about a woman on the cusp of middle age, her beloved grandma, and a strange houseguest who changes everything.

Seventeen-year-old Margaux doesn’t realize one photo could change the course of her life. But in German-occupied Paris, nothing makes sense anymore. Margaux fears the worst when her lover is arrested. And when her photo appears in Nazi propaganda, her family’s reputation and prospects suffer the consequences.

In 2008, Margaux has moved into a retirement home, and her granddaughter Barbara continues to live in the Paris apartment they used to share. Eager to escape unhappy circumstances, Barbara works remotely for a publishing company and rents out a room in “Mamie” Margaux’s apartment to help pay the bills.

One day, Barbara finds a stranger on her couch. Roger, who’s a curious photographer, uncovers shocking secrets about Barbara’s family. And when a snowstorm triggers a lockdown, he opens the door to tempting new possibilities.

A bestseller in its original Catalan at the 2023 Sant Jordi Book Fair, Bosch’s sweeping novel alternates between the two timelines, offering sustenance for historical fiction readers, WWII enthusiasts, and romantics alike.

©2023, 2025 by Xavier Bosch. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2025 by Samantha Mateo.
Women's Fiction France
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Critic reviews

“This is a prizewinning novel, translated from Catalan, that offers a poignant story of love and war, history, family, and consequences.”Booklist

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Slow start

Overall I enjoyed this historical fiction. However, the beginning was slow to get to the main theme of the story. There may be a temptation to give up on it, but it does improve and was worth the read for those who like historical fiction. It was translated from French which may account for this.

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