All the Broken Places

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Helen Lloyd, Kristin Atherton

Brought to you by Penguin.

1946. Three years after a cataclysmic event that tore their lives apart, a mother and daughter flee Poland for Paris, shame and fear at their heels, not knowing how hard it is to escape your past.

Nearly 80 years later, Gretel Fernsby lives a life that is a far cry from her traumatic childhood. When a couple moves into the flat below her in her London mansion block, it should be nothing more than a momentary inconvenience. However, the appearance of their nine-year-old son, Henry, brings back memories she would rather forget.

Faced with a choice between her own safety and his, Gretel is taken back to a similar crossroads she encountered long ago. Back then, her complicity dishonoured her life, but to interfere now could risk revealing the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting.

All the Broken Places is John Boyne's masterful sequel to his classic best seller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, taking a character from that novel on a journey to a place she never goes—the past. Through her story, he explores the aftermath of the war and the effects of a lifetime of guilt.

©2022 John Boyne (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Magnificent

“The boy in the striped pyjamas” is one of my top 10 favourite books and so I was delighted to see a continuation of the story. I was not disappointed. It was supberbly performed which makes any book better. Highly recommended.

Just buy it now…

Brilliant book. The simple story taught me so much about the war in a way I’ve never read or thought about it before. Brilliantly written and read so well too. The narrators made it come alive for me.

Great narration

Great story with a hard subject but also easy listening with amazing narration. Enjoyable and looking forward the next

Guilt

How you can be guilty of a terrible crime just by association. The surprising end gives a feeling of justification to the main character.

Fabulous

Live the book. Well read and great story line. I was hocked from beginning to end.

The trouble of looking on

The paradox of knowing and not understanding. Of being there and having done nothing. Of forgetting what good behavior can be because you want so strongly to forget. But that is not how forgetting works.

Most enjoyable book!

Really enjoyed this book and especially loved Gretl's character as a 91-year old. Highly recommend this book.

Fantastic Read

I loved this book. Beautifully written, with unexpected twists and turns. An excellent sequel to ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’. I am sad I have finished it!

Refreshing approach to a familiar topic

I found the story very absorbing because of the way it was written, using two different timelines but about the same person. The Author's way of letting you get into that person's head worked very well & topics he covered, especially those to do with male dominance and abused, were sensitively and realistically described. But the story has a big cast all of them interesting and well portrayed. It is a well woven story of history and personal tragedy. Like all good stories I found myself going back when I had finished to review some of the clues I may have missed!

Incredible sequel

Loved the story and the character of Gretel. Always freaked by the horrors of the holocaust and the impact on millions of lives. Never thought of it from the side of the daughter of one of the evil perpetrators.