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A review by booksadaisyes
All The Broken Places by John Boyne
4.0
This is the sequel to the acclaimed The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and is Bruno’s older sister, Gretel’s story of her life after the war. This book however has been written for adults, while Bruno’s story was for a younger audience. This book has some vivid scenes of violence, domestic and family violence and suicidal ideation.
Boyne describes the novel as a story about ‘guilt, complicity and grief, a book that sets out to examine how culpable a young person might be, given the historical events unfolding around her, and whether such a person can ever cleanse themselves of the crimes committed by the people they love.’
Boyne alternates each chapter between Gretel’s life now in 2022 aged in her 90s and with her life from the end of the war - they are short chapters and make for an engaging read, carefully intertwined so at no time does it get confusing, but is an easy reading style that propels the story.
John Boyne is a favourite writer of mine as he is such a good storyteller and his books always have characters with depth so that you feel you know them well by the end of the book.
I know that there has been some controversy and criticism about Boyne’s novels dealing with the Holocaust and the stories not being realistic or misrepresenting the facts. I find Boynes’ fiction writing compassionate, sensitive and thought provoking - he is a masterful storyteller - much like @markuszusak who Boynes dedicates this book.
Boyne describes the novel as a story about ‘guilt, complicity and grief, a book that sets out to examine how culpable a young person might be, given the historical events unfolding around her, and whether such a person can ever cleanse themselves of the crimes committed by the people they love.’
Boyne alternates each chapter between Gretel’s life now in 2022 aged in her 90s and with her life from the end of the war - they are short chapters and make for an engaging read, carefully intertwined so at no time does it get confusing, but is an easy reading style that propels the story.
John Boyne is a favourite writer of mine as he is such a good storyteller and his books always have characters with depth so that you feel you know them well by the end of the book.
I know that there has been some controversy and criticism about Boyne’s novels dealing with the Holocaust and the stories not being realistic or misrepresenting the facts. I find Boynes’ fiction writing compassionate, sensitive and thought provoking - he is a masterful storyteller - much like @markuszusak who Boynes dedicates this book.