Boyne is an old-fashioned storyteller - and that's a grand thing. In other hands, the story of All The Broken Places would be over-complicated or weighed down in an attempt to make it a serious piece of "literary fiction".

In this novel we have so many serious themes - loss, grief, guilt, responsibility, duty, love, family, war, persecution...and all from a variety of angles - yet it is so easy to read. The pace is beautifully judged and the reader is never left behind or in confusion even though the book jumps between several decades. Instead of battling with the prose, we can save our energies and intellect for considering the story and its cast of very different characters - and how the past shape us and our future actions.

It is by no means perfect; a couple of characters could have been fleshed out a little more. However, it is a worthy follow-up to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

I have read and enjoyed almost all of John Boyne’s books. I believe he is one of the most amazing story tellers out there. However his last two novels massively missed the mark for me, so it was with trepidation that I started All The Broken Places. I am delighted to say that this is Boyne back at his best. The story is that of Gretel. The sister from his best selling novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It is a dual timeline of just after the war and today. It is a story of survival, guilt, strength and bravery. It is upsetting at times, funny also but Gretel’s character is wonderfully written. Complex, likeable, unlikeable, weak, strong… a perfect depiction of a complicated, flawed human. This is an excellent read. I thoroughly recommend to all.

What an amazing emotional read. I never read the boy in the striped pajamas but I did see the film so I knew the background to the book. The story follows Gretel, the older sister from the moment she leaves Germany and into her adult life.
Heartbreaking at time yet also heartwarming, the author had me feeling 101 different emotions and captured the story beautifully. This has definitely becoming my favorite read of 2022.

All The Broken Places by John Boyne is a sequel to The Boy in The Stripped Pyjamas. This book is a sequel that does not require you to read the prequel. References are made only for the purpose of shedding light on Gretel Fernsby's obsession to protect her identity.
All the Broken Places tells the story of Gretel Fernsby, a 91-year-old German-born resident of present-day London. I have read the prequel to this novel and enjoyed it. When the opportunity to read All The Broken Places was presented, I had high expectations. I have to say that I am not disappointed.
John Boyne's vivid description of the events in the prequel through the eyes of a nine-year-old is skillfully repeated here through the eyes of a ninety-one-year-old. I have to consciously remind myself that this is a work of fiction albeit, historical fiction. All the characters mentioned in the book add credibility to the story.
The book begins with Gretel Fernsby meditating on a quote by the psychologist - Voltaire "if everyman is guilty of all the good he did not do". This sets the tone for the story.
We are taken on a journey with Gretel Fernsby over a period of eighty years. Her escape from Poland through Paris, to Australia, and her final destination of London. These places are revisited in the book as events or words trigger Gretel's memory. They feature are flashbacks as Gretel's life story unravels and done brilliantly in a manner that explains Gretel's emotional state.
Whilst The boy in the Stripped Pyjamas tells the story of the holocaust from a child's perspective, All The Broken Places is a thought-provoking adult read that deals with guilt, complicity, and grief.
This book is highly engaging and well-written and truly deserves a five-star rating.

I enjoyed, if that’s the right word, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas therefore was delighted to be sent the follow up book. Again John Boyle tackles a difficult subject and although I really didn’t like young Greta, the older Greta became tolerable. There is good writing and some strong characters in this book but because I didn’t empathise at all with Greta, I have found it hard to love this book.

I read The Hearts Invisible Furies this year and was completely blown away by the beauty of Boyne’s writing, the perfection of his story telling ..and decided to read everything he has written. I had not realised that this was the sequel to Boy in the Striped Pyjamas when I requested it ..so I read Boy immediately before reading this.
Reading the books in sequence was a rather unique and illuminating experience and probably coloured my opinion. At the beginning of Broken Places I felt a resistance to to the need for a sequel…the ending of Boy seemed so desperately final. This novel seemed to have jumped me into a completely different world and I was initially unsettled by the characters and their appearance. The characters were not only several years older but the setting so different from the house beside the camp..Whilst this is described as the adult sequel to Boy; Boy was deemed Young Adult so there is definitely some adjustment in style as well…

Much of the story is post war and it is difficult to describe the plot without giving anything away to readers of Boy. It is entirely possible to read both on their own but you would miss so much; the links between the two are so wonderfully, remarkably entwined. The timeline switches around. In the ‘present’ Greta is living in a well appointed flat in Mayfair; she has a grown up son; is closely attached to her neighbour Heidi who is experiencing dementia. A young couple have moved into the building with their young son. Things don’t seem happy and Greta is uneasy about the situation and about the emergence of memories of her brother Bruno. Trying to unwrap their story inevitably unravels her own…

Another timeline focuses on Greta and her Mother building a post war life together in France. Greta’s Mother is moving on to forge a new relationship; they have both kept their past secret..

And threaded between these timelines the story switches back to that house in Germany..

Once I had made the transition between the two novels I was totally overwhelmed by the incredible story writing and the emerging themes. This is definitely an adult novel which poses questions about culpability, retribution, forgiveness, guilt..I found myself debating with myself about the issues raised..about Greta’s age, about her culpability and about whether you can ever find, or deserve to find peace. And as events unfolded in the present I wondered how Greta could ever free herself of her past.

Another tour de force from John Boyne and I cannot wait to read more.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a digital copy of this amazing book.

Gretel, now in her nineties, lives a luxurious life in London. She has hidden from her past as it is too shocking to reveal When a new neighbour moves in with her young son, horrors from the past are awakened in Gretel. A truly great sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Sweet and sad follow on to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, this is the story of Bruno's sister.

Forever touched by her past, Gretel is now an elderly lady living alone in a city flat. Her story since her traumatic childhood is gradually completed for the reader. She's brave, independent and full of love for those who need it - including Henry, the young boy who lives downstairs in a world of domestic violence.

Beautifully and carefully written.

All the Broken Places is a sequel to the much loved John Boyne novel 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.'
It tells the story of Gretel, the former protagonist's sister, in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the downfall of the Nazi regime.
It is written in both present day London (2022) , giving a nod to recent world wide events and also across the years spanning the immediate ending of the war, allowing the reader to experience life through Gretel in Sydney, France and London. The storyline has some twists and turns and I loved the ending and the journey that Gretel goes on to get there.
The novel brings deep questions up - such as culpability, forgiveness and redemption and the lengths we go to in life so that we are able to live with ourselves after traumatic experiences. Wider questions of responsibility and ignorance too are not shied away from.

The author's notes at the end of the novel are super interesting as well and give insight into how Gretel was conceived as a character. I know there has been a lot of controversy about TBITSP in terms of historical accuracy, but as a teacher of literature I have always chosen to see the book as symbolic rather than actual fact.
All the Broken Places is a brilliant read, with a fascinating character, and - one whom the author rightly says the reader will need to decide whether or not she deserves to have her story told.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an Advanced Release copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book of contrasts. It is soul-destroying and uplifting at the same time. It played with my head, my heart and my emotions and I feel exhausted after reading it but devastated it’s finished. John Boyle is a master storyteller and this book is another testament to this.

91 year old Gretel cannot escape her past, but she can hide it from others. A heart-rending story of the effect that Nazis had on their families as well as their victims.

As someone who has not yet read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or seen the film I wondered if this would affect my appreciation of this sequel, All The Broken Places; the answer is an emphatic no. In this novel, the reader is treated to Gretel Fernsby's story in the years after the war and the devastating loss of her nine-year-old brother. It moves in time from 1946 up until the present day. Beautifully written with fantastic characterisation.

This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Random House UK, Transworld Publishers via NetGalley.

I’m shattered after reading this book. There are a lot of heavy topics including the holocaust and domestic abuse.. From the first chapter I was totally absorbed. It was hard to know whether to like Gretel or not, and at the end I kinda did like her and feel sorry for how she ended up - but at the same time, felt she was where she wanted to be.
I enjoyed the span of the stories right from when Gretal was 12 to 92. It’s a long time since I read “the boy in the striped pyjamas” but you do recall the tragedy as you read further into this book. Loved the twist that comes late in the book about the neighbour, and was very taken with the new daughter in law Eleanor.
I was a little nervous going into the book, given the publicity around holocaust survivors reaction to the previous book. On the one hand you want to respect their memories and on the other you want to learn/feel something about the events - and reading fiction does help understand, even though it is not always accurate.
I devoured this book and it was one of my top reads for the month.

Following Gretel who has lived in the same apartment in London for over 60 years. This is an evocative read that goes deep in to Gretels memories and life. Beautifully written, despite the painful subject matters, this is a read that will keep you turning the pages.

This was a really enjoyable read and I loved the writing style. The pacing was really well done and I liked the main character a lot.

It was refreshing to revisit the story of Gretel and explore her character more and see the development in her character throughout the years. The alternating POVS between past and present were excellent.

The story was powerful and really thought provoking.

All The Broken Places is the follow up story to the Boy In the Striped Pyjamas – a book which had me sobbing on a packed commuter train many years ago.

This time we hear the story of 91 year old Gretel, Bruno’s elder sister who is now living in London and trying to put her dark past behind her, but she finds that she cannot shrug off the guilt of her father’s War Crimes.

Now a widow with a grown up son and living in Mayfair, Gretel finds herself defending a young boy who has moved into the apartment below.

This is another thought provoking read yet again from John Boyne. It is a powerful tale following on from Bruno and Shmuel.

I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas many years ago with my children and found it very moving so I was keen to read this sequel. It was beautifully written, absorbing and thought provoking and I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended.

What a fabulous book. Loved hearing all the different stories of Gretels life and how she felt for the sins of her father. And the end!!!

It's been years since I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas so I thought I might feel a little unawares going into this but that wasn't the case at all. This is beautifully written though harrowing and tragic at times, utterly compelling and like nothing I've read before. I found some of the cliches and stereotypes a little jarring but I can look beyond them. It's a fantastic use of the dual timeline and a must read if you're looking for historical fiction around this subject.

I have the feeling I may be one of the few people in the world who has not read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or seen the film adaptation. I wondered if this would effect my appreciation of this, its sequel; the answer is a definite no. In fact All The Broken Places may be one of the most memorable and thought-provoking novels I read this year. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve found it so difficult to write a review that will do it justice. (I’m still not sure I have.)

Moving between past and present, we gradually learn about Gretel’s childhood and the impact her proximity to the horrific events of the Holocaust has had on her. Having had an early taste of what her identity becoming known might result in, the majority of Gretel’s life has been spent hiding her past, adopting new identities when disclosure is threatened, moving to new places and being in a constant state of watchfulness.

In addition, she has lived with a constant sense of guilt – at the dreadful things that took place ‘on the other side of the fence’ and her part in the death of a loved one. ‘Guilt was what kept you awake in the middle of the night or, if you managed to sleep, poisoned your dreams. Guilt intruded upon any happy moments, whispering in your ear that you had no right to pleasure. Guilt followed you down streets, interrupting the most mundane moments with remembrances of days and hours when you could have done something to prevent tragedy but chose to do nothing.’ Managing those feelings of guilt has meant repressing unwelcome memories. There are photographs Gretel can’t bear to look at, a location she refers to only as ‘that other place’, a name she can’t bear to say.

There are a number of occasions on which Gretel is challenged about her defence that she was ‘just a child’ and had no knowledge of what was taking place. And, that even if it was true, she did nothing after the war to help bring the perpetrators to justice. In fact that she took deliberate steps to avoid this. When, soon after the end of the war, she is presented with indisputable evidence of what occurred and how close she was to that cruelty, the effect on her is so unbearable it results in a catastrophic act and the destruction of a relationship.

In the book there are not just broken places but broken people too. Gretel, of course, but also her mother, and Gretel’s new neighbour Madelyn.

There are moments of light amongst the darkness. For example, Gretel’s tender relationship with her vulnerable neighbour, Heidi, and the way she bonds with young Henry. And Edgar, Gretel’s late husband, whom we meet at the very beginning of their relationship, is a wonderful model of devotion, understanding and acceptance.

All the Broken Places is an unsparing exploration of how the sins of the past can weigh on individuals and the burden of complicity. ‘By doing nothing, you did everything. By taking no responsibility, you bear all responsibility.’ The book poses some difficult questions. If someone you love commits terrible acts is it right to still love them? Can anything you do ever make up for the sins of others? Is taking one life to save another justified?

I’m not sure the actions Gretel takes at the end of the book represent sufficient reparation given the scale of the evil that occurred in ‘that other place’ but I got the sense Gretel thought they did and she viewed the consequences of her actions as a kind of justice, as the punishment she deserved.

In his afterword, the author states his belief that, for all the mistakes in her life and her complicity in evil, Gretel’s story is still worth telling but it’s up to the reader to decide if it’s worth reading. My conclusion is an unequivocal yes.