LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
This beautifully written sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, takes us right back to the time of the Holocaust, told with compassion and insight into how guilt and sorrow from the past follows Greta throughout her life.
We first met Greta in the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as the 12 year old daughter of Auschwitz commandant. We now meet Greta as a 91 year old widow, living a solitary life in London, she shies away from meeting her new neighbours including 9 year old Henry. Something stirs in her as she gets to know Henry, his frightened mother and abusive father.
There is nothing Greta can do to change the past and the loss of her brother, but is there something she can do to change the life of 9 year old Henry?
The dramatic twist at the end of this superb novel, expresses Love, loss and family in its startling conclusion.
Lyndy Cooke
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All The Broken Places Synopsis
From the author of the globally bestselling, multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, comes its astonishing and powerful sequel.
Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past.
She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. She doesn't talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.
Then, a young family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget.
One night, she witnesses a violent argument between Henry's mother and his domineering father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.
Gretel is faced with a chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy - for the second time in her life. But to do so, she will be forced to reveal her true identity to the world. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself?
All the Broken Places is a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her past and a present in which it is never too late for bravery.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780857528858 |
| Publication date: |
15th September 2022 |
| Author: |
John Boyne |
| Publisher: |
Doubleday an imprint of Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
384 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Family Drama
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
John Boyne Press Reviews
'John Boyne is a master storyteller' Daily Express
'John Boyne is not just one of Ireland's best living novelists but also one of the best novelists of Ireland' Sunday Express
'Compulsively readable' Irish Independent
'Boyne offers writing of insight and beauty' Observer
'Boyne is an incredibly versatile author' New Books
'When is a monster's child culpable? Guilt and complicity are multifaceted. John Boyne is a maestro of historical fiction. You can't prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel' John Irving
'Exceptional, layered and compelling...This books moves like a freight train, with force and consequence for the reader' Amy Bloom
Author
About John Boyne
John Boyne was our Guest Editor in May 2010 - click here - to see the books that inspired his writing.
John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.
His early writing consisted mostly of short stories and he published a number of them. His first story, The Entertainments Jar, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award in Ireland. In total, he has published about 70 short stories.
He has published seven novels: THE THIEF OF TIME (2000), THE CONGRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS (2001), CRIPPEN (2004), THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS (2006), NEXT OF KIN (2006), MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (2008) and THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE (2009).
His 2006 novel, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at no.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies and was the 6th highest selling novel of 2008.
His novels are published in 42 languages.
He lives in Dublin.
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