Summary

One day, Etienne is reading to Marie-Laure when he stops, convinced that someone has arrived. He heads to the cellar, whispering nursery rhymes with Marie-Laure in tow. Etienne takes her upstairs and shows her the huge radio transmitter he built on the top floor. It took him years to create, so that he could play the gramophone recordings that they had spent so many hours composing.

Claude Levitte lives just three doors down from Etienne LeBlanc. A perfumer by trade, since the war began, he now makes extra income by hauling meat by train to Paris. He is looking out the window when he sees Marie-Laure’s father measuring distances and making notes, and realizes that this might be useful too.

Weeks go by. Marie-Laure counts the days, still confined to the house. Madame Manec begins baking early and takes...