I haven’t read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I’m unsure whether I’d have liked All the Broken Places more if I had read the first story, although this seems to have suffice no backstory to work as a standalone.

Maybe this is just the wrong book at the wrong time; I haven’t been able to engage with the story at all and rather give it a poor review, I’m putting it to one side to start afresh at another time. I’m giving it 4 stars because what I have read (around10%) is beautifully written.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Brilliant! Totally absorbing. This sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a fascinating take on guilt, deception and reflection of a time that no matter what, Gretel can never escape.

I struggled with this. I really wanted to like it but I just found the endless coincidences a bit irritating. It also relied on clichés quite a bit and I didn't like that - e.g. moving to London and randomly seeing the Queen, then getting a job in Harrods.

Not for me I'm afraid.

(review not posted elsewhere online).

Such a moving story that was a follow on from the fabulous 'Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' but it certainly can be read as a stand alone book. It is fast paced and kept me wanting to continue to read at whatever time of the day or night it was, my Kindle was with me for whenever I could grab a few moments. The story is based upon the guilt that Gretel has from her childhood and how she never seemed to do the right thing or own up to what had really go under her skin. I felt so sorry for her intense emotions. The story goes backwards and forwards from 1943 when she was at Auschwitz to the present day 2022. It had many dark sections that really hit me hard considering that people could be so cruel to a person who had no control over her family history. The ending was intense but it did wind up Gretel's story so well.
A beautiful emotive story that I would recommend to everyone to read and feel the pain that the Holocaust has caused to more than just those who were incarcerated by the Germans.

It is a riveting follow-up to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and it works incredibly well as a standalone.
The story is told with a dual timeline of Gretels post-war life and the present. The frequent shift between past and present made compulsive reading and I devoured this book in one day.
Gretel is a very human and complex character who grappled with grief, guilt and fear for her entire adult life. She kept her identity secret for a lifetime and even as an old woman the thought of confronting her past and opening old wounds would leave her emotional and upset. There was no way she could right the wrongs of her past but I thought it fitting that she had the chance to make a difference in one little boy's life and in a way atone for her sins.

A couple of things about Gretel's life appeared odd to me- On the run from Nazi hunters and the like she and her mother chose Paris to hide in after the war and with their German accents not well disguised. Also, when Gretel was slightly older she didn't recognise that David was Jewish. These little oddities aside, the book is very fast-paced, and dark but greatly entertaining.
Some people might get hung up on whether the book is historically accurate but as a work of fiction, it works. It is simply inspired by events in WWII and at the same time, it raises thought-provoking questions about what faced the ordinary Germans who had to adapt to post-war Europe.

Given what a fantastic and moving book "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" is, it is difficult to believe that the author could follow it up successfully. He has certainly managed to do do with his latest book which is incredibly moving, heartfelt and left me both grieving and at the same time with some hope in the humanity of people. The story follows the life of Gretel, the daughter of an SS officer who is put in charge of one of the camps processing Jewish prisoners. How does she cope with the fact that her father is a living man but at the same time capable of committing such terrible atrocities due to his beliefs in nazism and Hitler. The book follows Gretel throughout her life and shows how her upbringing affects her own approach to life and survivors guilt. An excellent book worthy of being made into a film. Let's hope that such writings as well as the historical tomes on this subject mean that we will never forget man's inhumanity to man and such atrocities will not be repeated.

All The Broken Places" is the long awaited sequel to "The Boy in The Stripped Pyjamas". It is helpful to either have read, or be aware of the plot if "The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas" before you read this. Boyne assumes you have read it and doesn't reiterate it at any point.

Gretl Fernsby is a 91 year old widow living comfortably in a flat London. But she has a past, a dark past, which she has gone to lenghts throughout her life to hide and now she is going to have to face her guilt. I won't go into the plot in any more detail so not to spoil the book for anyone.

This is a book about Guilt. Different types of guilt, guilt by association and guilt due to personal actions. Can a child be guilty because of the actions of a parent ? How do we deal with the said guilt ? Do we make reparations? Do we ignore it or do we come to terms with it.

A wonderfully written sequel that keeps you turning the pages. Definitely Recommend.

Greta and her mother leave Auschwitz and Germany after the war to escape their past and escape retribution by hiding under false identities. How can they find peace and a new life? This follow up book is just brilliant and well worth the wait.

Great characters, especially Gretel with an excellent storyline that sans decades. Cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, although this book is written for adults.
I think this can be read as a standalone book as there are plenty of references to the previous book and it’s easy to work out what happened originally.
Such a good book about a period of time the should never be forgotten or repeated and about the guilt that has lasted a lifetime.
An excellent story that’s worthy of its 5*

I love the fact that John Boyne used the time in lockdown to write the story of Gretel, sister of the boy who perishes in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Alternating between 2022 and other years between WW2 and the present, the narrative moves seamlessly from time to time, place to place. It made me wonder if the chapters were written in the sequence they follow in the book, or if the author wrote all of 2022, then all of 1946, etc, before slotting the sections together. Either way, it all fits together beautifully.

Gretel is a fascinating character. As a girl during the war, she is confused, vulnerable, flirtatious - in short, full of contradictions, just as an adolescent girl would be given her circumstances. As an independent woman, her life revolves around hiding her true identity. As an old woman, she is forthright in her views. Her life-long feelings of guilt are still strong, but she has wit and charisma. I particularly liked certain observations such as the contrast between theatre and cinema audiences, and her thoughts about her neighbours. Little things like this make her come alive.

Parts of the book are brutal and difficult to read, but despite this, whenever I wasn't reading, I was longing to pick it up again.

Picking up on comments by another reviewer, I don't think the book was too long. Indeed, I'd have been happy to read more. And I challenge the assertion that Henry's injuries would have been picked up in school. We read all too often that yet another child has 'slipped thought the net' and died at their parent's hand, failed by teachers and social services.

I was more than a little surprised by the ending but on reflection it brings Gretel's life full circle.

To conclude, this is the best book I've read in a long time.

John Boyne describes his new novel as one about guilt, complicity and grief. I think it is also about inheritance and duty both in terms of ‘the sins of the father’ and also how perceived familial responsibility or ownership can be ultimately manipulative.

The story follows Greta, the sister of Bruno, the little German boy who befriends Schmuel in a concentration camp in Poland from John Boyne’s earlier novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’.

The new novel is told in 3 parts: 1946/2022, 1953/2022 and finally the present day. Because of her experiences Greta is a secretive and complex character. The reader learns of her personal traumas as she grows up and tries to build a new life meets whilst hiding her past. She also meets a formative character from her past which makes her confront the Final Solution directly.

It is however her fondness for her nine year old neighbour Henry and mother which is the catalyst towards a form of personal ‘redemption’ at the end of the novel. Another thought provoking and beautifully written book by John Boyne.

Thanks to RandomHouse and Netgalley for a review copy.

Gretel Fernsby is 91 years old and lives in an apartment that overlooks Hyde Park in Mayfair. Her son is getting married - for the 4th time - and is constantly on at her to sell her flat and release the equity.
When the gentleman in the flat beneath her dies, all the residents are curious who will buy the flat. When the Darcy-Witts arrive with their 9 year old son, she is concerned with what she notices.
The book flits back to the years immediately after the war and the young Gretel and her Mother have relocated to Paris. They have new names and a back story that says they come from Nantes. Her Mother drinks and eventually hooks up with a local man. This comes to an unfortunate end and they relocate once more. When her mother dies, she moves to Sydney, Australia and is happy for a little while. That is until her past comes knocking.
In the present, her peace and quiet is being threatened by a bully and she confides in her future daughter in law.
In the 1950s, Gretel is now in London and is in love with David, but tragic events conspire and once again she is at a turning point in her life.
In the present, Gretel works out what to do to save people and lives with the consequences.

Gretel's character can be a little prickly, but I warmed to her as the book progressed and you found out more about her previous lives. There is a surprise twist as well.

Rating - 4.5 rounded off to 5

Poignancy embellished with sublime prose!

You might think that this is a usual historical fiction around WWII, but it is not! Written entirely from a fresh perspective of the “foe”, it deals with how the war might equally affect and victimize a young girl, however blessed she might have been during its peak of glory.

If 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 was about Bruno, the 9 year old boy, this is about Gretel, his then 12 year old pesky sister –whose lives changed forever in so many different ways, with the dramatic turn of events at the former’s ending.

Synopsis -

We follow Gretel as she flees to Paris with her mother after the war leaving behind the horrors of the past, subsequently moving to Australia in the 50s and later in the present era - where after several decades as an octogenarian, Gretel Fernsby is now a UK resident, living in a prestigious apartment in the prime London locality of Mayfair.

Review –

In my view, the main attraction here is Boyne’s mellifluous writing. He handles Gretel’s character with such grace and delicacy, it is just impossible not to like her despite her being on the wrong side of history.

I can see how complex it might have been for him to reimagine this story from Gretel’s standpoint. There are 3 main things that are her constant companions - guilt, grief and helplessness. After losing everything and everyone she ever knew, Gretel’s yearning to be loved is another defining factor that propels her is different directions.

It’s amazing how seamlessly, Boyne flitted in and out of the three different timelines, giving us a multifaceted view of Gretel’s personality at various junctures of her life.

I particularly enjoyed the present timeline the most, where we have a wise old Gretel, hardened from experience, yet at the same time worn out and wilted - having carried her burden and secrets for over 80 years.

Living out the last leg of her life, Gretel seems to get tangled in a situation, where she would once again need to make some decisions and confront her ghosts of the past.

Boyne reserves some of the twists and shock towards the end and although it was liberating for Gretel, I felt strangely numb with the finale, perplexed at the kind of moral dilemma and unanswered questions that Boyne left me with🤯.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, DoubleDay for the ARC!

This is the long awaited sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, following Bruno’s sister’s life after the war.

Gretel is a complicated character, she has grown up in the middle of evil, but she wants to find a safe and peaceful life where she can escape her past and move on. Living into her 90s she faces more evil, and has to make a decision about what she can do whilst risking publicising who she is.

This is a fantastic follow on, concentrating on Gretel rather than replaying Bruno’s story.

Thanks to Netgalley for this book in return for a review.

Upsetting but beautiful sequel, says a lot about human frailties.

I didn't even question whether I wanted to know more of the story - I just started this. It's always painful reading stories with the Holocaust at their core, and yes, I cried more than once reading this, but not for the reasons you might think.

Gretel herself refuses to say who she is, who her brother is, for the entire book. But we know. We know what happened in 'Out-With', both to her brother and to many, many others. What we don't know is what happened after. But we will.

Gretel was a minor character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas but now her life is our world for the length of this new novel. Her life after the war and her life now, as a 91-year-old living in London, in a well-to-do Hyde Park apartment. With new neighbours moving in underneath, she dreads a child living near her, bringing back painful memories.

I won't say more of the plot. It unwinds delicately in two strands - in present-day London, and in small pieces post-War, revealing both Gretel's past and how her adolescent experiences still affect her today. She has spent a lifetime hiding from memories and guilt, in refusing to examine her own accountability. Nobody reading this could fail to feel conflict when looking at Gretel.

There was so much talent evident in the writing, the weaving of Gretel's history which is horrific in places, a realistic teenage girl at times, then scenes of nightmarish quality. Present-day Gretel's new neighbours are equally compelling, there's a relationship with her son and his new fiancee that rang true, a heartfelt bond with a neighbour, and a climax building from the amalgamation of everything we've seen of Gretel coming together in one final decision.

There were two scenes that didn't sit right with me. Both were conversations that Gretel has with men, it felt a little too staged, too authorial rather than driven by the characters. Though each of these scenes too were both important and tense.

Boyne adds some very pithy and instructive notes at the close, both on how he came to write the sequel, and what it is all about.

I thought this was an excellent companion piece to its predecessor. It is more graphic in terms of sexual content and adult themes (including violence and suicidal thoughts) where the first was not, and so may not be suitable for primary-aged readers.

Powerful, tear-inducing and never less than thought-provoking. We can't imagine what we'd have done if we were Gretel and we know it. Thank you for continuing the story, Mr Boyne.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

Gretel is not a likeable woman. She appears wrapped up in her own thoughts and excuses. When the truths begin to surface, there are many emotions in play here.
Her Father was the Commandant of a German concentration camp. She feels guilt over this, but no particular shame, everyone had a hard time in the war, you have the feeling, she felt punished for events out of her control. Should a child be considered guilty by what they see and hear, surely they obeyed the parents, but is that a good enough excuse?
Gretel and her mother are in Paris in 1946. They find it difficult to find somewhere to live, is it the German accent, they both seem to blame others, and ignore the part they have both played.
Gretel is in Australia in 1953, she recognises someone from her past, and decides to kidnap his son in revenge.
London in 1953 , meets her future husband. They have one son.
London 2020, a widow, now living in Winterville Court, an expensive flat in Mayfair. Visits an elderly neighbour to keep an eye on her .
A young couple move in downstairs, with their young son. Gretel begins to feel a connection between them, and when issues are raised about child cruelty, Gretel begins to interfere to help Henry.
Difficult issues of guilt , blame and avoidance of unpleasantness. Do her later experiences show her atonement efforts, and acknowledgement of her guilt? Or, have her childhood experiences forever scarred and corrupted her character completely ?
A hard book to read. I will certainly read The Boy in the striped Pyjamas myself, I remember my children reading it at school, it certainly raised a lot of questions.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Penguin Random House/ Transworld for my digital advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I have given this four stars, I feel there were a few unanswered questions and other areas glossed over.

After thoroughly enjoying both the book and film adaptation of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, I was overjoyed to learn there would be this sequel. Add in the fact that John Boyne is one of my favorite writers, and you can imagine just how high my expectations were. And, did he deliver? Yes, he did.

In equal measure thought-provoking, shocking and poignant, and all wrapped up in Boyne’s magnificent storytelling, this is another triumph to add to his remarkable body of work.

In All the Broken Places, Boyne tells the story of Gretel, whom we remember as 9 year-old Bruno’s elder sister in TBITSP. Now in her nineties and living in London, Gretel has reached a moment of reckoning. With the arrival of new neighbors, including a young boy, she is forced to confront a past she’s spent her whole life trying to forget.

Through a dual timeline, Boyne takes us back to Gretel’s early experiences after escaping ‘that place’, first in Paris, then in Australia. Fear, memories and guilt are her constant companions. Seventy years later, following a long life well-lived, she is faced with a choice that may give her an opportunity to atone; the chance to act, where before she turned a blind eye.

My goodness! There is so much to unpack in this book. I had forgotten just how deceptively uncomplicated Boyne’s writing is; how smooth and beguiling his narrative style. Beware though: this is but a ruse. For scattered throughout this story is shock after shock; some just ripples of unease, others savage in their intensity. Amongst the latter are chilling echoes from TBITSP that hit like punches to the gut.

It’s impossible to read this book and not feel compelled to consider some really big questions around the themes of culpability and responsibility. At what point does one become complicit in an act of depravity? At what age can one be held culpable if only a silent onlooker? And in our day to day lives, when confronted with something ugly, should we intervene or walk away?

Thank you, John Boyne, for telling Gretel’s story. It was more than worth the 12-year wait.

An absolute gripping book following on from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

The story flits between Gretel, now 91, and her life to 3 years after the war and her escape from everything she once knew.

The current story focuses on Gretel’s new neighbours. When things don’t quite seem right with the family below. Gretel once again battles with her conscience as to if she should step in to help the young boy and his mother.

It also flits back to describe how Gretel and her mother coped after fleeing Poland and how Gretel got to meet her husband.

An absolute heart wrenching story but written in a unique way that not many authors can do. Well done to John Boyne.

This is a good book, it's engrossing. My one and only gripe is that it is a teeny weeny bit contrived in the last couple of chapters.

What a beautifully written book.

This is a squeal to The boy in the Striped Pyjamas, it tells you the story of Gretal, the older sibling of Bruno. Gretal shares her story of the different places she went after they fled the war. Her emotions and guilt that went with her.

A lovely, heart moving book. 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy for an honest review.