Status
Available
Call number
Publication
RANDOM HOUSE UK (2022)
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:�??You can�??t prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel.�?� �??John Irving, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The World According to Garp �??Exceptional, layered and compelling�?�This book moves like a freight train.�?� �??Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn�??t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn�??t talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn�??t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich�??s most notorious extermination camps. Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can�??t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry�??s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel�??s hard-won, self-contained existence. All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel�??s girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choic… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member nicx27
All the Broken Places is a sequel to John Boyne's classic book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. However, where that book was aimed primarily at children, All the Broken Places is an adult book focusing on Gretel, the older sister of Bruno, the boy who nobody who has read The Boy in the Striped
Gretel is 91 and living in a flat in London when a family, including a 9 year old boy named Henry, move into the flat below her. She's kept herself to herself over the years, not wanting to draw attention to herself or her shocking past, but the arrival of Henry leads her to make decisions that threaten to shake her life to its very core.
Gretel's story is told in the present day but also with sections going back to Paris just after the war, Sydney a little later, and then London in the 1950s, giving a real sense of the direction Gretel's long life has taken. Whilst not always the most sympathetic character, I absolutely loved Gretel, a quite feisty yet secretive woman whose bold voice stands out. My favourite sections were set in the present day as she meets with her neighbour and her son, and gets to know Henry. But there's such darkness to the story too, with Henry having an unsettled home life which impacts on Gretel's hard-won privacy, and of course there is the legacy of the evil she encountered in her childhood in Berlin and 'that other place'.
This is another wonderful book from Boyne who never fails to delight me with his extremely varied yet consistently brilliant stories. All the Broken Places most notably asks the questions: are we responsible for the sins of our fathers and are we culpable if we know of atrocities but choose self-preservation? Incredibly thought-provoking and moving, I thought this was a sweeping and magnificent read.
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Pyjamas can forget. This is a book that John Boyne had been thinking of writing since The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was published and it truly is a triumph.Gretel is 91 and living in a flat in London when a family, including a 9 year old boy named Henry, move into the flat below her. She's kept herself to herself over the years, not wanting to draw attention to herself or her shocking past, but the arrival of Henry leads her to make decisions that threaten to shake her life to its very core.
Gretel's story is told in the present day but also with sections going back to Paris just after the war, Sydney a little later, and then London in the 1950s, giving a real sense of the direction Gretel's long life has taken. Whilst not always the most sympathetic character, I absolutely loved Gretel, a quite feisty yet secretive woman whose bold voice stands out. My favourite sections were set in the present day as she meets with her neighbour and her son, and gets to know Henry. But there's such darkness to the story too, with Henry having an unsettled home life which impacts on Gretel's hard-won privacy, and of course there is the legacy of the evil she encountered in her childhood in Berlin and 'that other place'.
This is another wonderful book from Boyne who never fails to delight me with his extremely varied yet consistently brilliant stories. All the Broken Places most notably asks the questions: are we responsible for the sins of our fathers and are we culpable if we know of atrocities but choose self-preservation? Incredibly thought-provoking and moving, I thought this was a sweeping and magnificent read.
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LibraryThing member runner56
For those of you who read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas you will be equally as moved by this book which in loose terms is a sequel. Gretel, now in her 90's, living alone, is eager to meet the new family living in an adjacent flat. She has a turbulent past, and escaped from Nazi Germany as a child.
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Her father had been commandent of Auschwitz a fact she wishes to keep to herself, but when the young boy now living next door is subject to abuse she wonders if she should interfere and perhaps undo the terrible horror that happened to her younger brother many, many years ago, and for which she carries a terrible guilt. This is heart-wrenching story telling, a story that will stay with you for a very long time, and once again showcases the talent that is the amazing Mr Boyne. Highly, highly, recommended. Many thanks to netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cariola
Gretel Fernsby, a respectable 91-year old widow living in a comfortable London flat, has more secrets than anyone meeting her would suspect. She carries with her almost unbearable guilt that, in her earlier days, kept her running from one country to another. Since her marriage to Edgar Fernsby, she
The novel moves back and forth through time, from present-day London to 1930s Berlin, World War II Poland, post-war Paris, Australia, and back to London, where Gretel married and settled after the war, living in the same flat for over seventy years. The structure helps us to understand Gretel's hidden life and the actions and inactions that haunt her. Boyne spins out themes of atonement and retribution, self preservation and moral responsibility, and the overwhelming burden of guilt. Overall, this is a compelling book that builds upon what is Boyne's best known novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
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seems to have settled in, but guilt none the less continues to dog her. When a new family moves into the flat below hers, she is delighted to meet young Henry, an intelligent boy who loves to read, but he is also a trigger for memories that Gretel would prefer not to revisit, including memories of her younger brother. Henry's mother is a nervous woman, often drunk, and both she and her son frequently show up with bruises, burns, and broken bones. For years Gretel has preferred to live a solitary life as a way of avoiding a confrontation with her past, but isolation could not diminish her guilt, and she struggles to make the right decision: to take action based on her suspicions and risk exposure of her past, or to repeat the sin of ignoring a moral wrong and living with the guilt caused by silence.The novel moves back and forth through time, from present-day London to 1930s Berlin, World War II Poland, post-war Paris, Australia, and back to London, where Gretel married and settled after the war, living in the same flat for over seventy years. The structure helps us to understand Gretel's hidden life and the actions and inactions that haunt her. Boyne spins out themes of atonement and retribution, self preservation and moral responsibility, and the overwhelming burden of guilt. Overall, this is a compelling book that builds upon what is Boyne's best known novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
This is my 8tth John Boyne novel. He is an Irish writer who writes on diverse topics which run from very funny satire(The Echo Chamber) to historical fiction, and issues with the Catholic Church. This book deals with guilt, self preservation, and complicity with horrible actions by ones parents.
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This book is a sequel to the "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" which is Boyne's most well known book.However, you do not need to read that book to be able to get great understanding and value from this book . Gretel is 91 a widow living a high end flat in London. She has secrets which she has kept hidden from anyone still. living She was the daughter of the head of a Nazi death camp. She experienced this during in 12-16 age range and when the war ends, she along with her mother escape to Paris. The book goes back in forth between the present and post war Paris, Sydney Australia in 1953, Poland in 1943, and London in 1953 where she remains until the present. Eventually a new couple and their 9 year old son. move into the flat below her. She becomes involved with their life and sees the opportunity to atone for her guilt from her failure to acknowledge her past. The book creates a good plot and introduces many characters. The entire book is told through Gretel's first person narrative. I had problems with plausibility issues in a copy of areas of the book and the ending seemed a bit contrived. However, this should not takeaway from the issues that Boyne raises. It is also a reminder that we should never forget the horror of the Nazi regime and their unspeakable actions in the death camps. If you have never read John Boyne then this is not a bad start. I am glad that I still have books of his that I have not read but I am sure that I will. Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
This book is a sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It follows the subsequent life of Gretel, the daughter of a man in charge of one of the concentration camps, who was a child of twelve at the time of the Holocaust. She and her mother flee from Poland to Germany to France, and live under
This book examines guilt, responsibility, and complicity. It moves backward and forward in time to provide the reader with a bigger picture of events. As in many stories that have two timelines, I much preferred one over the other. The story of the past is by far the more compelling. I am guessing the author has had few interactions with women over age ninety, as what happens near the end is as close to impossible as I have read in a long while.
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false identities, moving from place to place. Eighty years later, we find Gretel in England, where she meets a woman and her nine-year-old son (the same age as Gretel’s brother when he died), whom she believes are being abused. This book examines guilt, responsibility, and complicity. It moves backward and forward in time to provide the reader with a bigger picture of events. As in many stories that have two timelines, I much preferred one over the other. The story of the past is by far the more compelling. I am guessing the author has had few interactions with women over age ninety, as what happens near the end is as close to impossible as I have read in a long while.
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LibraryThing member lisamunro
I am reading in the wrong order: I haven't yet The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Nonetheless, I found this book compelling. As another reviewer has noticed the storyline that deals with Gretel's past is the centerpiece here and more compelling than the present-moment plot, but this is also a novel of
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reflection on guilt and complicity; the structure really requires the narrator to be looking backwards and there's got to be something for the present-day Gretel to *do* that prompts her to reflect on the past and act in the present moment. Gretel isn't entirely a sympathetic old woman as a character, either. She's done some very terrible things (and drags around her family's monstrous legacy like a thousand pound weight) but comes to accept that even though she was a child at the time of the events she reflects on, she isn't absolved of responsibility and tries to figure out what taking responsibility looks like at 91 years of age. I'll have to now read the first book. Show Less
LibraryThing member pdebolt
I am still haunted by The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - not only the ending, but the devastating images of the prisoners in the concentration camp; however, I never thought about the aftermath for Bruno's family. John Boyne has crafted a worthy sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in this book.
Gretel Fernsby is a 91-year old widow in the present time when the neighbors in the apartment beneath her move in with their 9-year old son. It soon becomes apparent that the father is an abusive monster of both his wife and son. In alternating chapters, she tells the story of Gretel from the age of 12 when she and her mother moved to France. They are always aware of what it means if their past is discovered. Gretel's life story is told from the ages of 12 to the present when her past is unearthed by the abusive man living beneath her. They reach a vow of silence with each keeping the secrets of the other until she realizes that she can save a 9-year old boy, the same age as her brother.
I wonder now what a 12-year old girl could have done to stop the concentration camp atrocities. Did she know? Her mother certainly did, and enjoyed the benefits that came with living with the camp commandant. Gretel's life history is fascinating, regardless of the moments that required a suspension of disbelief. John Boyne is a consummate wordsmith, and this novel, along with his others, is a gift to his readers.
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Gretel Fernsby is a 91-year old widow in the present time when the neighbors in the apartment beneath her move in with their 9-year old son. It soon becomes apparent that the father is an abusive monster of both his wife and son. In alternating chapters, she tells the story of Gretel from the age of 12 when she and her mother moved to France. They are always aware of what it means if their past is discovered. Gretel's life story is told from the ages of 12 to the present when her past is unearthed by the abusive man living beneath her. They reach a vow of silence with each keeping the secrets of the other until she realizes that she can save a 9-year old boy, the same age as her brother.
I wonder now what a 12-year old girl could have done to stop the concentration camp atrocities. Did she know? Her mother certainly did, and enjoyed the benefits that came with living with the camp commandant. Gretel's life history is fascinating, regardless of the moments that required a suspension of disbelief. John Boyne is a consummate wordsmith, and this novel, along with his others, is a gift to his readers.
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LibraryThing member janismack
Another great book by John Boyne. This is a slight continuation of the book
“The boy in the Stiped pyjamas”. You don’t have to have read this book before as the story is retold in this book. Gretel has been on the run from her German ancestors since she was 15 years old when she fled Germany
“The boy in the Stiped pyjamas”. You don’t have to have read this book before as the story is retold in this book. Gretel has been on the run from her German ancestors since she was 15 years old when she fled Germany
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just before the end of the war. We meet up with her at 91 years old and relive her life with her. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member bereanna
The main character, Gretel, is the daughter of an infamous Nazi commandant and has lived with guilt of knowing what went on in Treblinka concentration camp. Now we meet her at age 91 living in a upscale apt in London. This was such a weighty subject told thru the eyes of Gretel who has hidden her
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past and lived with guilt since age 12. It was difficult for me to empathize with her, thus seeing the story from her point of view was a challenging read.read it to discover if she resolves her mental anguish and how. Show Less
LibraryThing member vancouverdeb
I'm unable to find fault with All The Broken Places. It was a riveting read that kept me turning the pages.
Gretel is an elderly lady of 91 who has lived in a large, elegant flat in London for decades. She lives quietly, having been widowed several years ago. Across the hall lives a woman in her
When a new family moves into the flat below her, Gretel befriends a young boy named Henry . As she witness the shouting and bruising on both the wife and and the child, Gretel struggles to decide whether to take action and risk exposing her past, or live with the guilt of remaining silent.
An hard to put down story that I loved. Highly recommended.
Gretel is an elderly lady of 91 who has lived in a large, elegant flat in London for decades. She lives quietly, having been widowed several years ago. Across the hall lives a woman in her
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early sixties, Heidi, who is struggling with a decline in her mental faculties. Gretel does not speak of her past in Nazi Germany, where her father was a commandant of one of the Concentration Camps. In fact, she has spent the majority of her life trying to escape her past, by moving to France, to Sydney Australia and finally settling in London England. We revisit Gretel's fascinating and unsettling past life.When a new family moves into the flat below her, Gretel befriends a young boy named Henry . As she witness the shouting and bruising on both the wife and and the child, Gretel struggles to decide whether to take action and risk exposing her past, or live with the guilt of remaining silent.
An hard to put down story that I loved. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member tangledthread
Gretel, the narrator of this story, is a 91 year old woman living in an elegant flat in London. Her neighbor, Heidi, is approaching 70 and is in the early stages of dementia. They are both curious and concerned about who will be moving into the recently vacated flat below them.
Gretel's life is
With constant fear her past being exposed, Gretel goes to Australia after her mother's death, then flees back to England. The author uses this character to explore themes of guilt, grief, and dread that dominate Gretel's life as she carefully guards the secrets of her past.
These all come to bear when she observes horrible abuse of the wife and young son by the father of the new family that moved into the flat below her. Will she risk exposing her past life in order to save the young son from his monster of a father?
Gretel is not a hero in any sense, she is flawed and at times ruthless. But the essence of the book comes in one of her statements: In war, there are no winners.
Gretel's life is
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revealed to us gradually beginning with her escape from Nazi Germany after the war as a 15 year old. She and her mother live in Paris under assumed identities, fearing retribution as her father was an administrator of one of the death camps and was executed at Nuremberg.With constant fear her past being exposed, Gretel goes to Australia after her mother's death, then flees back to England. The author uses this character to explore themes of guilt, grief, and dread that dominate Gretel's life as she carefully guards the secrets of her past.
These all come to bear when she observes horrible abuse of the wife and young son by the father of the new family that moved into the flat below her. Will she risk exposing her past life in order to save the young son from his monster of a father?
Gretel is not a hero in any sense, she is flawed and at times ruthless. But the essence of the book comes in one of her statements: In war, there are no winners.
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LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
An excellent book that I would have finished in one day except I had to take a short break to recover from what I was reading. It's funny, I have The Boy in the Striped Pajamas but haven't read it yet. I guess it would help if I had read it first, but since I did know some things about it, I had no
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problem following this book. It's about Gretel Fernsby, ninety-one, who has lived in the same well-to-do mansion for decades. She never talks about her past. When a new family moves in downstairs, Gretel can't help but to begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry. She will have to make a choice if she wants to save him. Highly recommended! Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2022
Physical description
9.21 inches
ISBN
0857528866 / 9780857528865
Other editions
All The Broken Places by Boyne John (Paperback)
All The Broken Places by Boyne John (Paperback)