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A review by readingonmountains
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
5.0
Greta Fernsby is one of those fabulously flawed characters that I can’t help but love. She’s been hiding her family’s past for close to 80 years, her father the Nazi Commandant of Auschwitz’s camp. She’s held this guilt, shame & grief close throughout her long life.
The story follows Gretel through three different stages in her life from postwar Paris, as a young woman in Australia and then to present day London as a 91 year old. John Boyne weaves the timelines and characters together flawlessly and masterfully reminiscent of The Heart’s Invisible Furies.
When the man in the flat downstairs from Greta passes away she is worried about who will purchase the property. She soon meets the young family and forms an unexpected relationship with the couple’s nine year old boy Henry. When it comes to light that the boy’s father is abusing both Henry and his mother, Greta struggles with helping Henry without revealing her past.
Before reading this book I wasn’t aware that it was a continuation of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which I hadn’t read prior to picking up All the Broken Pieces. I don’t think it took away from the story, however I did immediately pick up Striped Pyjamas upon finishing and appreciated reading Bruno’s perspective on Off-With (Auschwitz).
The story follows Gretel through three different stages in her life from postwar Paris, as a young woman in Australia and then to present day London as a 91 year old. John Boyne weaves the timelines and characters together flawlessly and masterfully reminiscent of The Heart’s Invisible Furies.
When the man in the flat downstairs from Greta passes away she is worried about who will purchase the property. She soon meets the young family and forms an unexpected relationship with the couple’s nine year old boy Henry. When it comes to light that the boy’s father is abusing both Henry and his mother, Greta struggles with helping Henry without revealing her past.
Before reading this book I wasn’t aware that it was a continuation of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which I hadn’t read prior to picking up All the Broken Pieces. I don’t think it took away from the story, however I did immediately pick up Striped Pyjamas upon finishing and appreciated reading Bruno’s perspective on Off-With (Auschwitz).