For a while I was captivated by this adult follow up to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Gretel, the sister of the boy who befriends the Jewish boy in the first novel, has survived, changed her identity and now lives in London, Of course her life is a sham and she has to live with intense feelings of guilt and shame. John Boyne asks questions about culpability and retribution - how much did she know at the time when she lived in “the other place”? Is there something she can do to find peace?

The story unfolds as two alternating time lines: post war we see Gretel making herself a new life and in the present 2022 as an elderly woman befriending a small boy who is living with an abusive father.

All well and good, but the novel relies too much on melodrama rather than real drama. It’s baggy and too long… it needs to be cut and tidied up before publication. And I know, as a professional, that social services in 2022 would do more if a child was coming to school with unusual cuts and bruises. This part really didn’t ring true.

With more editing All the Broken Places will be a powerful, moving novel.

All the Broken Places by John Boyne

This book is a sequel for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, it was a fabulous read , and happy to report so is this one.
It is the story of Gretel now an old woman having escaped Poland .
A new family move into the apartment block with a young son called Henry and despite the big age gap they see something in each other and become friends .
A lovely story. Brilliant characters. Emotional .

An excellent read. This book is a sequel to John Boyne’s “Boy in the Striped Pyjamas “. However this book can be read as a stand alone. It is the story of Gretel the sister of the “Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. It is a tale of guilt and survival. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in three days. I would recommend it to all John Boyne fans and those who have yet to discover his work.

I debated with myself before requesting this book as I am not a huge fan of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I am so glad that curiosity won as this is a truly exceptional book.

Gretel has fled her home with her mother. Her father and brother are both dead and Gretel and her mother have changed their names, trying to hide from their past. The story begins in Paris in 1946 and runs on a dual timeline with present day London. We see past Gretel trying to move on with her life, despite overwhelming guilt, while present Gretel is perturbed by the domestic violence she is witnessing between her new neighbours. The times lines grow closer as they should until we reach our climax. This time, will good prevail over evil?

Gretel is an extraordinary character. She is reserved and strong with a quiet capacity for great love. She is a woman in turmoil, constantly looking over her shoulder. Should she feel so guilty? Probably. And Gretel knows this. I was entranced by her story.

The writing is clear and Gretel’s story is told often dispassionately, which makes sense in the context of the character. I liked the twist very much! I really only have good things to say about this book. Read it, you won’t regret it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

This is an amazing book, probably my favourite of the year! I found the story line very moving. I heartily recommend it!

Firstly I would like to thank netgalley, Random House publisher,And the wonderful author John Boyne.

This book continues from the book The boy in the striped pyjamas, which I enjoyed reading.when I started reading this book I was confused going back and forth but it soon comes together. This is the story of Gretel who escaped from Poland with her mother they must never tell anyone who they are, they escape to Paris and things turn for the worse.now to the present shes in her nineties living in a posh apartment with a new neighbour an actor and his wife and child named Henry she becomes friends with the boy who loves to read.this book is about secrets the burden on hiding her identity this was a very emotional story this book is a long read, but worth reading.this book bought a tear to my eye at the ending of this read...highly recommend...

This will be reviewed on goodreads and Amazon uk.

What a book! Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down (and I couldn’t stop talking about it). Words like fantastic and engaging as well as entertaining and educational come to mind.

It begins in Paris 1946. Fittingly the opening words in chapter 1 contain the quote from Voltaire, “Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.” (I believe comes from ‘The Age of Louis XIV’ (1751) which questions the government of France in his day). Apart from being a historical work is also a philosophical work and is really asking the question throughout the book – how much can an evil/monster father pass on to his children?
It isn’t gruesome, far from it, it is an engaging story of the events of Gretel’s life after leaving her life and childhood behind in Poland and Germany and taking a new identity. Through John Boyne’s gifted storytelling, we are given us access to the way Gretel and her mother have rebuilt their lives after loosing their father/husband and brother/son. How they have had to flee for their lives and change their identities. Can a person truly leave the past behind by changing their public persona?
Gretel is a teenager processing all that has happened and reliving the terrible years the family spent in Poland while her father was the Commandant in charge of the concentration camp where her brother died. (See the Boy in the striped Pyjamas). He Mother spends her time seeking a new husband who will take them, as they are, and although them to live in the manner they have become accustomed to while Gretel seeks comfort in the arms of a good-looking boy, who her mother describes as being unsuitable. When their past becomes known their lives fall into the hands of the French resistance movement. The consequences of this, is too much for Gretel’s mother. And in Gretel is full of remorse and guilt.
To get over this, she sails off to Australia where she tries to begin her life again. However, her past catches up with her again and she must return to Europe. Back in Europe she tries again for a new life in London where she meets another boy, well actually 2 boys. And it all begins again, and she must face up to her past a second time again with consequences.

By the end of the book, she has two children, she has had a successful marriage and she lives alone in a Mayfair apartment. While her son tries to get her to sell up her Mayfair apartment there are reasons she must stay. But John Boyne has one more twist up his sleeve. In the end Gretel has piece of mind and she has helped others along the way.

This is an amazing blend of philosophy, fiction, and plausible historic facts. It is certainly a novel of the year, and one I will continue to talk about for a long time to come.

Thank you very much to net galley for allowing me to read it and to John Boyne for bringing to life Gretel’s story.

This is truly an incredible book. Telling the story of one woman who lives daily with the guilt and pain of Nazi Germany and her family’s involvement. The story goes from war time through different decades of her life and there’s a really smooth transition between the story’s timelines. That can be quite difficult but the author achieves it beautifully.
As we approach the end, I loved the unexpected revelation and wondered why I hadn’t seen it coming - but I didn’t. Sign of an excellent author suddenly throwing the audience a curved ball .
Yes, it’s a story set around the worst atrocity of our time but it was riveting and I enjoyed it immensely.

Such a profound, extraordinary book.

I have a confession to make, I have not read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas nor have I watched the movie. I made the decision not to, based on my horror of all things associated with WW2 and concentration camps in particular. I’m a coward at heart and having visited some of these horrendous sites I still live with the horror of what happened in them.

However, when I saw that John Boyne had written this book, based on the girl, Gretel and how she and her mother fled Germany at the end of the war, I knew that I had to put my horrors to one side and read this latest offering from John Boyne, an author who manages to bring his character is and their situations to life. It is a profound, deeply moving story of Gretal, as she tries to make her life away from the camp where her father orchestrated despicable deeds. We follow her story from a young girl trying to hide her story to the lady now living in a prime spot in London and righting wrongs that show up as she travels through life.

When I came to the end of the book had spent a long time reflecting on what might have happened if mobile phones with cameras had been around at the time, not only in Germany but also in South Africa during the apartheid years. Would the world have become more aware of events? Tried to stop them sooner? Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how long I mulled over this, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

John Boyne, I want to thank you for writing this truly outstanding book “from the otherside”. I’ve never given any thought to the families of the officers involved in these crimes against humanity. Thank you for the ending as well. It was so perfect and so deeply touching.

Rony

Elite Reviews received a copy of the book to review.

Wow, wow and wow again!

Sequels often disappoint - specially when the original has been so magnificent, but this novel matches it's predecessor in every way that counts.

All The Broken Pieces is the wonderful follow up to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. We meet Gretel, now a 91 year old recently widowed woman living in London and worrying about the empty flat below her and who will be occupying it when the new people move in. Through alternating flash back chapters we learn that at the end of the war, Gretel and her mother fled Poland and Germany, taking on new identities to try and flee the horrors in their past. Settling variously in Paris, Australia and finally landing in London we trace Gretel's life as she desperately tries to escape her history, but no matter where she runs she keeps being confronted by the past.

It is incredibly difficult to review this book because there is so much story to cover but to reveal too much would ruin the beautiful unveiling that reading it brings - it's like walking down a dark tunnel with a torch! Many different things are touched on including domestic violence, lies, secrets, fear, guilt and love.

I literally can't recommend this book highly enough!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Gretel following the events of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. She flees Poland with her mother and initially ends up in Paris with a new name and identity. Here they realise how hard it is to escape your past. Her story is told through a dual narrative - her current life in London and her journey to get there.

New neighbours in the flat below and particularly the appearance of Henry - the 9 year old son - force her to examine her past and face the dilemma of her safety against his. This time her choice may be different.

A haunting, moving sequel - heartbreaking. It deals with the issues of guilt, forgiveness and love and makes you think about how you might have reacted in the same circumstances.

A book I am already recommending!

Thankyou NetGalley for giving me the chance to read This in advance. The boy in the striped Pyjamas was such a moving read and this didn’t disappoint. Couldn’t put it down. Exquisite

Wow!
Well I never thought that I would enjoy a book so much more than the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ( I thought that book was brilliant) but from start to finish this book was a cracker!
Well written, poignant, interesting, spellbinding, happy, sad, a little bit of everything.
I don't usually quote from books in my reviews as I don't want to give anything away, but:
John in his Epilogue states that (writing fiction ) is not the burden of education which is the task of non-fiction.
With this book John has certainly helped to increase the understanding, of the readers, of that and subsequent times.
Fantastic book John, Thank you. I will certainly have a look at some of your other books, I thought that the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was an exceptional book that could only be a one-off for an author, this book has proven otherwise, and I will soon see whether your other works are as good as these.
My thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy for honest review.

I don't think there is anyone alive who doesn't know the story of the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and rightfully so, it is a masterpiece. This sequel follows Gretel, older sister of Bruno, after the end of the war and in the years that follow. Now 91 years old and still hiding her past from everyone in her life, we're taken on a heartbreaking journey of grief, remorse, guilt and love.

Like it's predecessor, I found this book difficult to read at times, but that's what John Boyne does best. You're right there with them, as harrowing and painful as it may be. Interesting, absorbing, well-paced and powerful. I couldn't put it down.

Thank you so much Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my view.

A really interesting follow up to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; the story of his sister, who has lived to 92 and the life she’s led since we last saw her, and ties together many strands of history and complicity.

Goodreads
John Boyne is a favourite writer of mine. He deftly weaves together the various threads of the central character’s life, a life full of lived history.

It is well written in a straight forward clear style. I enjoyed the various ‘broken places’ where Gretl recounts her tale. She is full of guilt but I could not stop thinking about her being a child when some of the traumatic events happened. How culpable is a child? How guilty are you if you were ignorant? Or if you had no idea of the consequences of your actions?

She does meet a cast of convenient characters along the way and this felt false in some way hence 4 stars not 5.

I liked the ending too. It sort of justified her as an old lady.

I read a proof copy provided by Netgalley

Gretel is no ordinary old lady.
Now 91, she lives a quiet but very private life in the large London flat she once shared with her late husband.
But why is she so secretive? What is the full story behind her early life in Germany, France and Australia? What dark secrets lurk within the lives of her new neighbours? And what can Gretel do to help?
Occasionally harrowing, always compelling, John Boyne has written a superb sequel to his most famous book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Brilliant!

I never read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but saw the film a few times, which left a lasting memory of the Holocaust. This book is very much a sequel, taking the story from a different angle, from the viewpoint of the sister. It is a dramatic, unsettling read but so clearly portrays Gretel’s emotions. The novel is beautifully constructed, flicking between Gretel as a young person growing up and in her later life, living in London. It is certainly not a novel for the feint hearted, but an absolute must for anyone interested in this period in history - both for fiction and non-fiction readers.

Of all the books I have read during 2022, this novel by John Boyne stands top of my list. Engrossing, engaging and a true page-turner. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Random House, for this advance copy.

John Boyne writes a superb and profoundly moving sequel to his The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as he explores the psychological complexities of guilt and complicity, and the repercussions of WW2 and the Holocaust through the life of the widowed 91 year old Greta Fernsby, sister of Bruno, whose father was the Nazi commandant of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp. In a narrative, with short chapters, that shifts from the past and the present in which the bright, sharp and astute Greta lives in an expensive and exclusive block of apartments in London. She occasionally sees her son, guarding her privacy, ensuring she never gets really close to anyone, intent on keeping her secrets deeply buried.

Greta and her mother ran in 1946 from Poland, to Paris, France, changing identities, unaware you can never escape your past in a world desperately seeking retribution for the horrors and evil perpetrated during WW2. As Greta's haunted and harrowing nightmare past is slowly revealed through the various locations, including Australia, her memories of Bruno return when a new family moves into her apartment block. She can feel there is something wrong as she gets to know the 9 year old son, Henry. His film producer father is an abusive, manipulative bully, and Greta wants to protect Henry and his mother and do the right thing, but she risks her past being revealed.

The remarkable Greta, however, is no longer the 12 year old girl she used to be as she seeks redemption. I became completely immersed in this beautifully written, compassionate and thought provoking novel with its surprising conclusion. This is an outstanding, if not perfect, read, related with sensitivity, the characterisation is marvellous, of love, loss, the sins of family, culpability and trauma that is utterly gripping and which I highly recommend to both fans of Boyne and to other readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

John Boyne captures the audience with a page turning, thought provoking sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

I always think it hugely ambitious to attempt to follow up such a well known and liked story but Boyne excels himself again and brings us such a heart wrenching tale of guilt, love, loss, kinship and friendship all the while telling us about the consequences of such a terrible event.

Gretel is a fantastic character and narrator and she tells her story with such depth and passion and you can't help but love her. The other characters added great depth to the story and all were intwined one way or another all along the way.

The short chapters ensured the pace of the book was quick and before we know it we're at the very unexpected twist at the end.

Definitely one of the best books for me this year!!!