This book gripped me as tightly from start to finish. It is a great example of how to write a not very warm character. I just could not put the book down because I wanted to know what happened next. I liked how the author used the different time periods tomve the story on.

John Boyne hit the big time with The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. That novel, simple in its narrative but packing quite the emotional punch, seemed an unlikely book to have a sequel. Yet here it is, expectation resting on its shoulders. All The Broken Places, Boyne tells us in an afterforward, was percolating in his brain almost as he finished that first novel, yet it took 16 years for us to finally be allowed the pleasure of reading it.

As I had not read that novel, I finished The Boy one evening, and the next day started and finished this new novel. I will say that I don't think you need to have read The Boy to follow this, but it does help shape and influence your reactions if you have.

Gretel is the sister of Bruno from The Boy and the central figure of here, and this novel takes us through the decades, from post-war France, to Australia in the 1950s, London in the same, and London in the present. A lesser novel would have told these events in chronological order, but Boyne mixes it - one chapter the present, one the past - and though it might sound for a complex read, it is not. Boyne is too great a writer to let the structure get away from him. One story follows Gretels attempts to escape from her past and one follows her burgeoning relationship and involvement in the lives of a new family that move into the apartment below. I will not spoil any of the twists of this novel, but it is thrilling, disturbing, frightening and beautiful.

I found this a much fuller, richer novel than The Boy. Unlike that novel, this one is for adults. It is more emotionally complex, more detailed, and for me much more engaging. At times I wondered what I would do had I been in Gretel's place. It is a novel, an hour after I've finished reading it that I'm still thinking about it, it got under my skin in a good way. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

5 star read - I really enjoyed this wonderful novel which takes in various time points since the 1940s and blends it seamlessly with a gripping tale set in the modern day as well.

John Boyne is one of those authors where you can fully immerse yourself in the story because you don't need to be worried there will be some ridiculous twist that you didn't see coming, because you couldn't possibly have ever happened. Instead, All The Broken Places is a natural life story about a character which will stay with you after you've finished.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this fabulous book.

John Boyne cannot write books quick enough to satisfy my need for his beautiful writing and amazing storytelling.
In the follow up to his hugely popular Boy In The Striped Pajamas we meet Gretel, consumed with guilt about her past and fear that someone will find out who she really is. From 1946 Berlin to present day London, her story is heartbreaking but beautiful. I loved every word and wanted nothing but peace and happiness for this main character despite her history. Just fantastic!

The sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, is brilliant. Gretel, a ninety-one year old woman is the protagonist, and her life is charted, showing the development of guilt and realistically conveying how people were expected to suppress their emotions. What is excellent here is the development of these feelings, and the way in which Gretel's life experience leads her to make decisions she might otherwise have not had to make, and, of course, the juxtapositioning of Gretel against the life of a young boy is genius and very well done.

Beautiful prose, and bound to be a success because it really is a worthy sequel.

I have read and really enjoyed a couple of John Boyne's , so I was looking forward to reading this one and it did not disappoint. What a fascinating book - jumping between the present and the past. I could really relate to all the characters although I didn't particularly like them all. Gretel was a someone you could have empathy with but also wonder how she was able to live with her guilt. I loved the little twist towards the end - but I won't give the secret away!

Over the last 2 years of the pandemic I lost my love of reading. I cannot understand why, as surely it would have been the ideal time to catch up on reading, My love of reading has been rekindled by this book and I look forward to reading many more of this calibre.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me have a proof copy in exchange for a review.

I had no idea this book was a sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, although I noticed coincidences early on and then double-checked. It is the story of Gretel, the sister of the boy in the original novel.

I enjoyed the dual timeline narrative, and found myself hooked on both parts of the story. It was a real page-turner, and I liked the questions it asks around guilt and culpability. Some parts of the story felt a little contrived at times, and not always completely believable, but overall this was a very readable and well-written novel, as well as being thought-provoking and sad.

I've had the great pleasure of being sent the last three of John Boyne's novels by his publisher and his books just amaze me.
My favourite of his, The Heart's Invisible Furies, has never been matched however this latest of his is definitely up there with the best.
All The Broken Places takes you back and forth between present and past and explores Gretel's relationship with her family and how she has managed to navigate following The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas.
It's gut-wrenching at times and you cannot help but feel compassion even when you want to detest.
Highly recommend this latest masterpiece!

John Boyne is a beautiful writer and deep thinker, and his novels are always thought-provoking and immersing. ‘All the Broken Places’ is no exception. His stories set during war are the most haunting, but this one has a twist on that. His protagonist, ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby, almost a recluse in her elegant apartment in London, 2022, takes us back through her life, a life lived in fear and guilt and grief as she tries to forgive herself for her part in the most heinous war crimes in living memory. Yet she was only twelve, a child who had no agency in those crimes, and had no understanding of what those crimes were. Who could blame her, this child of 12? Even today, with all we have learned, it is still almost impossible to believe such atrocities could have been committed by fellow humans. But Gretel has had her life, a life on the run, a life of lies, to figure out how she might make amends, how she might atone in some small way for her father’s crimes, for her own complicity as she refused to see, refused to understand, and sacrificed, by her refusal to understand, her own brother. Her own brother who did understand. Yet still she turns her head away. Fear? Guilt? Her memories of a father she loved, looked up to, perhaps still loves? For me, the novel’s most difficult question was what would I have done in her place? As a twelve-year-old, what could Gretel have done differently? But as a 30, 50, 70, 90-year old, what might I have done then? This is, of course, the story of the sister of the boy in striped pyjamas.

This book! I think it'll stay with me for a while. It covers a huge expanse of time but still answers every question about what happened to these characters. It's full of emotion but also shows how grief and guilt can entwine themselves into a person's character over time. I enjoyed all time frames and settings. The story of the new neighbours was probably the least gripping, though still necessary to Gretel's story. There are a few twists along the way but mostly it's Gretel herself who kept me reading, desperate to know what happened. I did wish we had more of Cait! She was a great character. And touches like the pair of glasses were very well done.

The whole thing is magnificent!

John Boyne is a master of transcendent historical fiction and tales of redemption, carefully crafted in prose that leaves a powerful emotional impact. I found this one a challenging read, being set against the backdrop of the Holocaust, with a plot that moves backwards and forwards in time. However, Boyne’s versatile ability to write in a woman’s voice as convincingly as a man’s is very impressive - and I could not resist getting caught up in the elderly female protagonist’s story.

*4.5 stars*

Gretel Fernsby is in her nineties, but she’s bright as a button and sharp as a knife - she has to be, because Gretel has a secret, a secret that she’s carried with her for most of her life, one she’s determined to keep to herself.

In 1946, German born Gretel, and her mother escaped Poland for Paris, after a monumental event took place in their personal lives. Physically they may have fled their past, but psychologically, the shame and accompanying fear meant they would never really find peace.

In present day London, widowed Gretel lives in an upmarket luxury apartment block, where each apartment is worth many millions, but she likes a quiet life, rarely bothers with the neighbours (except for one lady across the landing), and she sees her son only occasionally. Her preference for privacy means there’s less chance of anyone finding out about her life during the Second World War, that is until 9 year old Henry moves into the apartment below hers!

Sequel to the hugely successful The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, All The Broken Places is a moving story about grief, guilt and complicity. Needless to say, that with John Boyne at the helm, we’re treated to a storyline full of insight, from the ugliness of life through to the purity of love. Don’t miss this one!

Another excellent novel from John Boyce, it held my attention from start to finish. The story that begins in the 1940's, to present day. Gretel was the 12 year old girl, in Germany, whose father was a commandant in one of the most notorious death camps of the time. She spends her life trying to hide her past, and deal with the guilt that is never far away. Then she meets a little boy called Henry, and she has the chance to do something , and make a
real difference to someone else's life. Thoroughly recommend this book, really well written and it gives you a lot to think about.

Without a doubt this is my book of the year. The sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, written during the quiet of the Covid Lockdown, this is an outstanding piece of work.

It follows the life of Gretel, describes how her life developed after the War ended. She is haunted by guilt and grief and copes by locking away her youth and rarely allowing herself to think clearly about it.

In the end, however, she is forced to take a stand, in an entirely expected way, for the sake of another little boy, equally and painfully vulnerable.

I read this very slowly, as such beautiful and clever prose demands. To speak, with an authentic voice, the words of a 91 year old woman, is no mean feat.

Having read and enjoyed John Boyne's 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' many years ago, I was fascinated to read this related novel, detailing the life of the daughter of a concentration camp commandant during the Second World War. It examines the life and conscience of Gretel Fernsby through various stages of her later life and provides a different perspective on the subject through a character caught up in the desperate events when only a child. It is beautifully written and structured, interleaving the various stages in her life to show how her ideas and understanding evolve, particularly through the latest events in the present day, where she is confronted more forcibly with the details of her history she has been careful to conceal. I found the subtle exploration of Gretel's thoughts uncompromisingly honest, however uncomfortable, which is why the book engrosses and enthrals to the very end. Wonderful!

I love John Boyne’s books and couldn’t wait to read his new one, All the Broken Places. It’s a sequel to his 2006 children’s novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but this time it’s aimed at adults. Although I haven’t read the first book, I have seen the film and that helped me understand the background of the characters and the references to things that had happened in the past. If you’re not familiar with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, though, I don’t think it would matter too much as this book does work on its own.

All the Broken Places begins in the present day, 2022, and is narrated by ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby. Gretel has lived in the same luxury apartment building in London since the 1960s; most of the other residents have also been there for a long time, so when a new family move into the flat below, Gretel is curious to meet her new neighbours. However, she is alarmed to discover that the family includes a nine-year-old boy, Henry, who brings back memories of her own brother at the same age – memories Gretel has spent her whole life trying to suppress.

As she gets to know Henry and his parents, Gretel quickly becomes aware that something is not right. She wants to help, but is afraid of making the situation worse. At the same time, she is forced to confront her own past when, as the young daughter of a Nazi commandant of a Polish concentration camp, she and her mother fled to France at the end of the war and tried to build new lives for themselves under new identities. Gretel has lived with the shame and guilt ever since, but now it seems she might have an opportunity to redeem herself.

As the story of Gretel’s life unfolds, we are taken on a journey from Poland to France, Australia and then England. Chapters set in the past alternate with chapters set in the present as Gretel battles with her conscience again to try to do the right thing for Henry. There are not many books with protagonists in their nineties and I admired her for the courage, resilience and wisdom she displays in old age, despite what she may have done or not done when she was younger.

I really enjoyed this book, although at times it’s an uncomfortable read and often a moving one. John Boyne has shown previously that he’s not afraid to tackle controversial subjects in his novels and I’m sure this is another one that will divide opinion. Some readers will take the view that anyone who was complicit in the atrocities of the Holocaust deserves no pity; others will have sympathy for a twelve-year-old girl who, although she was at least partly aware of what was happening, lacked the strength, will and opportunity to do anything about it and has regretted it ever since. This is a theme Boyne has explored several times before, particularly in A History of Loneliness (a novel about the child abuse scandal within the Catholic church and probably my favourite of his books) – whether by turning a blind eye to the actions of others we are as much to blame as they are and whether it’s our responsibility to speak out if we know something is wrong.

This is a fascinating novel - highly recommended!

Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. She doesn't talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.
Then, a young 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 violent argument between Henry's mother and his domineering father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.
Gretel is faced with a chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy - for the second time in her life. But to do so, she will be forced to reveal her true identity to the world. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself? I couldn’t stop reading because this book got a hold of me and refused to let go. This is a corker! Heartbreaking historical fiction at its most dazzling.

After reading the first few chapters of this book, I decided to stop and reread The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I’m so glad I did, as it gave so much more depth and insight into both books.

Whereas the first book is told through the eyes of a child (Bruno), the sequel is told by his older sister Gretel, and filled in many of the gaps and unanswered questions that I had only guessed the answers to.

The book begins with Gretel, now a 91 year old lady befriending a little boy who moves into the flat below hers. He reminds her of her little brother, and she is forced to remember the events of the past and how they shaped her life.

People are not born with hatred or prejudice, but as the daughter of a Nazi Commandant, Gretel is brought up to hate the Jewish people and whilst I understand this is due to her upbringing, I kept thinking that surely she knew it was wrong to turn a blind eye to certain events that happened when she was a teenager. I think this is what brought so much turmoil into her later life as well as the part she played in her brother’s disappearance.

Has she got the strength to redeem herself by saving Henry, but in doing so, exposing her past?

This book is going to divide opinion - can people sympathise with Gretel or will they feel she deserves all the unhappiness and guilt that has shadowed her life over the years?

To me this is what makes John Boyne such a wonderful author - this isn’t just a story, it will make people discuss, argue, agree and disagree - as all good books should.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what an amazing, emotional read. This is a sequel to the boy in the striped pyjamas and it doesn't disappoint. Gretel is ninety one years old and lives in a beautiful flat in London but no one knows what happened in her past and as it is told in alternate chapters along side the present day it marries together seamlessly. When a new family moves in the flat beneath Gretel events take place which makes her uncomfortable and things become more uncomfortable for her. A fantastic story that is heartbreaking at times but beautifully written and so many things are finally revealed. It deserves more than 5 stars its brilliant and highly recommended

It is many years since I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I only read it once, like many I expect, and was not able to watch the film due to the shock of the ending. A book that really stayed with me. My daughter read it a number of times and, yes it’s a work of fiction, but I really believe gave her a good introduction to a terrifying period of history.
This sequel is set 80 years later in the main and is the story of Gretel, only 12 years old in the original book, and now a woman in her 90s. Gretel has spent her life denying her role in the past and trying to escape her family history, revealing to very few her true identity. But that is about the change.
This is definitely more an adult read, and whilst for me it doesn’t have the power of the first, it is a worthy sequel. Confronting different issues….the impact on a young girl of the atrocities committed by her father, her own role in that as well as the immediate part she played in her brothers death.