The sequel to the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Greta Fernsby is the main character in the gripping sequel. I read this is one sitting to find out what happened next. An excellent read probably the best book I have read in many years. It is very thought provoking making me re-consider my own opinions of the Second World War and the atrocities during that time.
Gretas life is full of guilt and regret and you will surely be taken on an emotional journey with All The Broken Places. 10/10 for John Boyne.

This is the sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and is the story of Gretel who is now in her nineties. She lives a comfortable life but is burdened with a secret and guilt from her past. Thought it was a really thought provoking book

Wow this is one of those books that will stay with you for a while.

Can I firstly say that I have never read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; I know that is a bit of a travesty but I have avoided heavy holocaust literature as I find it too upsetting and having family who lived through the traumas of the Second World War, it seems too close to home. However I think I will have to read it now as this sequel is just so compelling I feel like I have to revisit some of the characters, Im not sure why I even requested this book from NetGalley as it really isnt my usual type of book but I am so glad I took the risk.

The story tells the tale of Gretel Fernsby, a 91 year old lady living alone in London. The story is told during three time periods; towards the end of the second world war, around 8 years after the war and present day. Throughout the book we find out that Gretel's father was a German Commander, who was in charge of Auschwitz and the killing of millions of Jews. When the Germans lose the war Gretel and her Mother escape to France and thus begins a lifetime of hiding her true identity. We follow Gretel to Paris, Sydney and eventually London as she tries to outrun her past.

I found the story asked a lot of questions and made me go backwards and forwards in my liking of Gretel. Are children responsible for the sins of their Fathers? I would say no, but the author cleverly introduces a chance meeting with Gretel and one of the camps other Commanders who also managed to escape and make a new life, which makes you question how accountable Gretel actually is.

Entwined with the story of Gretel's Father there are also other stories running parallel which; unlike most other books which have these sidelines just to pad out the book, are integral to the storyline. We find out the real reason Gretel chose to move to her flat and why she will never move. The introduction of Gretel's new neighbours also has a massive bearing on her future.

As you can tell by the length of my review - I could go on about this book for a while. It is so well written, so touching, and so elegant. I urge everyone to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity.

Well I shouldn't have been surprised really - considering the author's previous book, the Boy in the Striped Pajamas... But wow. Just absolutely fabulous! It kept me hooked right to the very end. I wasn't expecting that surprise ending and I actually cried. I loved it and I can't recommend it enough. I started off intensely disliking the main character and at the end, cheering her on and amazed and in awe of her. A truly marvelous read!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is such an incredible book, so I was excited to see that sa follow up had come and I got to read it. The book follows Bruno's sister and mother in the aftermath of the war and everything that entailed.
It was well written and completely compelling, I loved it.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have read many books by Jhn Boyne starting with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - the book to which this is a follow-up.
This book follows Gretel, sister to Bruno. As the war ends Gretel and her mother hide to escape the consequences that lead to the execution of her father. They both try to tell themselves that they had no part in the internment camp horrors, that they could not have changed events and that they had simply follwed "orders".
I like how the narrative is told in alternating time lines but those time lines hange as Gretel moves from Paris, to Australia and eventually to London. There are a series of reveals as Gretel's life progresses.
There will be some who complain that the narrative is, at times, far fetched and perhaps unbelievable. However i think the book is less about the series of events than about how guilt and fear change the person you are and the one you are to become.

I liked the way Boyne moved Gretel's character on, even though it is hard to really like the character. Although she is our protaganist the author has people the narrative with other really well created characters who manage to show some of Greta's better sides. Some of the reading is difficult but the whole worked really well.

A worthwhile and entertaining book. If you like other books by John Boyne, you will enjoy this too. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and how the story develops. Highly recommend.

4.5* All The Broken Places is a beautifully written, thoughtful page turner from John Boyne on top form. A sure fire hit as the long awaited sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

Gretel is 91 living in an expensive flat close to Hyde Park. Looking in on her neighbour across the hall and with the odd visit from her son, she otherwise enjoys a quiet life. Until a new family move into the flat downstairs, including 9 year old book worm Henry, who befriends Gretel.

This unlikely pairing and Henry’s family situation force Gretel to relive her own past. The one where her younger brother befriended a boy in striped pyjamas leading to a personal tragedy amongst catastrophic evil. And from which her and her mother went into hiding and then on the run.

This is a book about guilt and culpability and not being able to outrun your past. John Boyne is a master storyteller and this is a tricky balance between page turner and one which makes you stop and think.

I am not a huge fan of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, mainly because of the simplicity required for its target young audience. All The Broken Places is a totally different book aimed at an adult audience. I would thoroughly recommend it.

Thanks to Transworld, Random House and Netgalley for the ARC.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60496739-all-the-broken-places" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="All the Broken Places" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645993565l/60496739._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60496739-all-the-broken-places">All the Broken Places</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7195.John_Boyne">John Boyne</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4848992388">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
John Boyne always knew that he would write a sequel to ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’ and he knew who the story would centre around: Gretel, Bruno’s elder sister. He would tell her story. In his mind he thought he would leave it until he was much older, maybe even as a swansong. He changed his mind when Covid19 raised its ugly head and life changed for literally everybody. Now was the right time with the gap between the two novels only sixteen years apart. What a masterful novel it is indeed.<br />Gretel’s story is an absolute cracker. It really is brilliant with a life full of survivor guilt, anxiety and hidden truths. We first meet Gretel as a 91-year-old refined lady, living in a luxury apartment worth millions, with only four neighbours and with a shady garden for communal use. She narrates her own story from her first happy memories until the very end of the story. Her family were a happy unit until her father was promoted to Commandant in charge of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. She was shown around the camp by her father who answered her questions from his point of view, a simplistic and Nazi biased hatred of ‘the campers’. Unknown to him, Gretel came upon a young boy about Bruno’s age who admitted he had a friend who visited him from the other side of the compound. Straight away she knew it was Bruno boasting that he had made friends with another boy who lived inside the camp.<br />After WW11 ended her mother and Gretel escaped from Poland and settled in Paris. It is 1946 now and they worked hard to hide their German accent, but unknown to them both their secret nationality and change of name became obvious. They were beaten, vilified and ran out of their small apartment. Gretel then decided to get as far away as she could. She changed her name yet again and hoped for an uneventful new life in Sydney, Australia. That didn’t work out either. She was in jeopardy and once again she had to pack up her bags and leave without even saying goodbye to her house mate.<br />She ended up in London with another new identity and it was here she settled down and married Edgar Fernsby, who loved her for who she was. He was an historian, an author and a gentleman. She lived an uneventful life, (although she was widowed) in her lovely top floor apartment. Trouble started when her downstairs neighbour passed away and a young family moved in. Gretel made friends with their nine-year-old son Henry who was an avid reader just like Gretel. It was because of Henry that her life changed forever. She made a choice.<br />This captivating novel is a truly excellent read, beautifully written and with characters that you will either love as a friend or hate as a monster. I thought Gretel was an admirable and compassionate lady. She was educated, sprightly and full of empathy. She liked to help where she could. She had a daughter Heidi and a son, Caden; his fourth wife was Eleanor, a cardiology surgeon. Gretel’s life was full of fear, regrets and anxiety about whether someone would ‘out’ her one day. I thought she was brave, had scruples and acted with tenderness. John Boyne conveyed the spirit of a wise lady trying to overcome her demons; but also hold on to her innate humanity. It was heart-breaking and humbling to see the strength of the human spirit in the face of her final choice.<br />I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Transworld Digital through my membership of NetGalley. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. I was so pleased I chose this novel and was granted my wish to write a review. Thank you for my copy. It is a very well deserved all round 5* review from me and I predict that this novel will be well received and with huge acclaim.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6004901-joan">View all my reviews</a>

I rated this book three stars because I feel as if it's the best fit. Is the book bad? No, not at all, but is it groundbreaking, is it exceptional? Also no.

I think the genre of WWII or Holocaust novels has been exhausted now, everything that needs to be said has pretty much already been said, so if you're writing a new book covering this you should be saying something that hasn't been said before and that's not what we get with this book.

There were times when the point was really laboured, the writing lacked subtlety or deftness of touch.

It was good enough, nothing groundbreaking, which you would hope for if you're going back into these tired waters.

This book was unbelievable. I was saying to a fellow bookworm only the day before reading this book that you never see or read how life was for those in support of the Reich after the war and then picked up this book. It was a hard read but I couldn’t put it down. To read the guilt carried by someone who was a child during those times and how they had to navigate their entire lives afterwards was difficult. The characters were beautifully written, the story was so well devised keeping me hooked and wanting to know how life would play out for the main character and of course utterly heartbreaking. A great link between those days and current time.

What I loved most about All The Broken Places is how the author expertly connects Gretel’s story to her younger brother, Bruno’s. Changing the tone, location and focus, Boyne honours, and manages to flesh out, events originally told in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, whilst continuing to tell Gretel’s story. I was amazed at the attention to detail and how Gretel’s perspective builds on the tragedy of the first book as she reflects on her own actions and struggles to survive in a post-war world. Boyne tells a story of redemption and conflict, uniquely transitioning from the child-like innocence of the previous narrative, to an adult, sometimes brutal, tale of regret and forgiveness.

I did not read any reviews of this book before having the pleasure of reviewing it for NetGalley. As a fan of John Boyne's other books, it was immediately obvious that it is the sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which was one of the books studied when I worked in a school. Although this one, Gretel's story, can be read alone, I believe that it compliments the first book and it was good to revisit old characters and see what had happened to them.
I loved it, I could not put it down, it is emotional and thought provoking, and I was left bereft when it ended and had me thinking about both books for days afterwards. I expect to see this going straight into the bestsellers list on publication day, and I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to review this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advance review e copy.

The novel "is about guilt, complicity and grief". However Boyne's writing is light and bright and never in any way feels weighed down by the gravity of what the novel sets out to consider. The story follows the life of Gretel, a young German girl, at the time of WWII and the Holocaust, as she tries to create a new life post-war whilst coming to terms with her family's central role in the horror. The story moves back and forth between events in 2022 London and Gretel's journey to Paris, Sydney and London in the years directly after the war. Boyne invites the reader to consider "how culpable a young person might be, given the historical events unfolding around her, and whether such a person can ever cleanse themselves of the crimes committed by the people she loved". In his author's note, he states that his central character Gretel's story is worth telling, whilst acknowledging that it is ultimately up to the reader to decide whether it is worth reading. I say unequivocally that this book it is well worth reading. With special thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a no obligation advance review copy.

I was not a huge fan of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas at all and have seen lots of well deserved criticism of the book in many places and so I was eager to read this book to see if Boyne had taken any of this on board.

In my opinion he hasn't and a book hasn't made me so cross in years. There's no coincidence unexplored and no part of the Holocaust history and post war reckoning unused.

The one saving grace that I can see to this book is that it definitely isn't aimed at the same young audience as Boy and there's little likelihood of this book turning up in the curriculum.

I can't in any conscience give this book any stars as a review but as that option isn't allowed it gets just one.

I taught The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas many times when I used to teach and so was really excited the read the adult sequel. This time we follow Gretel, the sister of the main character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I'm going to try not to give spoilers away for that novel in case you don't know the story. Anyway, reading it is not required to read this novel as the story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is revealed through the novel.
Gretel is now a 91 year old widow living in London and in chapters that alternate between past and present, we understand what her life has been like since she and her mother fled Poland at the end of WW2. We follow Gretel to France, Australia and finally England. She has locked away her childhood, her youth, not even able to say her brother's name and we see her shame and her guilt. John Boyne in his afterword says that he is exploring 'how culpable a young person might be, given the historical events unfolding around her, and whether such a person can ever cleanse themselves of the crimes committed by the people she loved', Gretel's father was the Commandant of Auschwitz and this is the shame and guilt that she has spent her life hiding. She has reached 91 without anyone ever discovering her secret, without anyone ever knocking on her door to arrest her. Then a family move into the flat below her and she finds that she must defend/save the 9 year old boy who lives there but a what cost to herself.
There is also a twist towards the end that surprises and might be a little too unbelievable. You can make your own mind up.
This is a book that leaves you conflicted. Do we sympathise with her, for the secret that she has spent her life hiding. Do we hate her for never condemning these who committed these acts? This is a novel that will lead to lots of discussions because I don't believe there is a correct answer. Maybe the answer is somewhere in bewteen.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this new book by John Boyne. I had not immediately realised that it was an adult sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which I had read and enjoyed many years ago. This new book tells the story if Gretal the elder sister from the war years through to the present day at the age of 91. Gretal had created a new life and identity for herself over the years living in Paris, Sydney and finally London. Her true story was known only to her deceased husband & an ex boyfriend. The memories and feelings she lived with were a constant presence in her life, although how they affected her changed.
There are many threads woven through this book as different responses and feeling surface. Was she as guilty as her Kommandant father or an innocent girl? Why can't she say her brothers name aloud? Should she be punished? Alongside this hiw can she help the little boy who comes to live in the flat below?
I recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction and those who live to read books that may challenge their own beliefs.

In John Boyne’s latest work of art we turn our attention to Gretel, the much despised and mocked, overshadowed by her younger brother’s innocence and later by his disappearance in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This novel moves from Paris 1946 to London and Sydney in 1953, and other periods in between. We see Gretel age 16 and 90 or so, making her way after the war, grappling with her conscience and the knowledge of what she and her family were a part of, and her life 70 plus years later still looking back from time to time, with memories that were simply unforgettable. It is an excellent story, and an absolutely wonderful conclusion to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which ended so suddenly leaving so many questions unanswered. It has so many threads, many entirely unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was such a good book. I love historical fiction, especially when it is about eras/ situations that I previously knew nothing about and this was definitely one of those books. It was so well researched and so compelling in its narrative that not only did I love reading it but I felt that I learned too. A really enjoyable read and perfect for any fans of historical fiction. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

A very uncomfortable read and for me, this sequel dilutes the impact of ‘A Boy in Striped Pyjamas’. Boyle writes the story of Gretel, daughter of the Kommandant responsible for the running of Auswitsch.
Now 92 and living in a swanky apartment overlooking Hyde Park, Gretel is struggling with deep feelings of guilt and loss; grief for her brother, and complicity in the most heinous ‘Final Solution’.
Although only 12 at the end of the war, when she and her mother fled to Poland, her witness to events and meetings have remained lodged in her heart when she could so easily have played a key part in the round up of Nazi criminals.
She is finally driven to act, symbolically really, as she liberates 9 year old Henry from his fearsome father, who live downstairs in her apartment block.
Henry just happens to be the same age as Gretel’s brother when wearing striped pyjamas, he crawled under the perimeter fence to join his friend and his fate.
The ending was way too rushed and neat for any real sense of closure. Could such closure ever be achieved though?
Many thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK’ for my pre-release copy.