I bought it, I read it, I loved it.

[b:All the Broken Places|60496739|All the Broken Places (Boy in the Striped Pyjamas #2)|John Boyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645993565l/60496739._SY75_.jpg|95341800] by John Boyne was a thought provoking and emotional page turner for me. His writing is immersive and compelling and I was drawn into the story from the very first page.
This is a fiction story and I am always aware when reading historical fiction stories that I may not get an extensive or satisfying portrayal of events in the past but that is fine as I have read a vast amount of non fiction books on the War and that is where I get my facts and information from.
I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the [bc:The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|John Boyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366228171l/39999._SY75_.jpg|1148702] and yet the characters stayed with me after all these years, and while I didn’t love it, I was very eager to read the sequel and see what became of these characters.

The story is told from the point of view of 92 year old Gretel who has lived her life hiding her dark and disturbing past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Germany or her post war years in France. She keeps the fact that she is the daughter of one of the commandant leaders in a notorious Nazi Concentration Camp well hidden and lives a quiet life in her apartment until a young family moves into the apartment below her and Gretel forms a new friendship with Henry their young son.

This is a back to basics , well written, interesting and compelling story from John Boyne, it’s the sort of book you long to pick up each evening. A curl up by the fire side read that just doesn’t disappoint.
I needed this book in my life as I have read a lot of mediocre novels over the past few months.

I listened to this one on Audible and the narrators are excellent. I also bought a hard back copy for my real life bookshelf. ( )

Liked this book. Very interesting characters. Well told story. ( )

Gretel Fernsby is 90 years old, living in a nice apartment in London. She carries the deep secret that she is the daughter of a Nazi commandant who was killed for war crimes. Gretel and her mother escaped Germany fleeing to Paris where they changed their names and try to keep a low profile, but they are discovered by a group of men intent on violence so they escape.

Gretel finally marries and has one son who is on his fourth marriage. A young family moves below her in the apartment and the violence in that marriage brings back terrible memories.

The story moves back and forth between the present and the past in Germany and in France. It is a well-written book that definitely kept my interest. There is a lot of hints as to Gretel's past family and the guilt that she and her mother carry. It was interesting reading about the Germans after the war and how they were treated by others and the guilt or shame they carried. ( )

A beautifully haunting story about the sister of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". The prose is captivating and engaging. The protagonist's emotions are clearly portrayed throughout all the seasons of Gretel's life and her interactions with people. Guilt, whether real or imagined, regret, outrage, and justice come into play in this novel, leaving the reader reflecting in the days and weeks to come. ( )

This book is a companion novel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but it's not necessary to have read that book. All the Broken Places gives you enough background and stands alone as a novel.

It is a story of guilt. Gretel, who is 92 at the time of the story, was the daughter of a Nazi commandant. Although she was only 12 years old at the time, she feels the hatred of so many who believe she was complicit in the Holocaust. But most of Gretel's guilt comes from her perceived role in the death of her younger brother. She now has a chance to prevent the suffering of another young boy. Her actions are partly a way to make up from her brother's death and partly a way to punish herself.

I generally like John Boyne's writing. He has an ability to make me feel sympathy for unsympathetic characters. In this book, however, I found there were too many coincidences. And characters other than Gretel were pretty two-dimensional. The book did provoke a lot of thought and guilt, complicity and whether humanity has really learned from past horrors. ( )