All the Broken Places: A Novel by John Boyne

 

 All the Broken Places: A Novel by John Boyne. Pamela Dorman Books, Viking, 2022. Adult fiction.

Gretel Fernsby, age 91, has lived in the same upscale flat in London most of her life. Her husband is dead. Her son visits, but is envious of the money her apartment would bring if it  sold. Gretel keeps very much to herself and does not tell her secrets. Among those is the fact that her father was a prominent Nazi and oversaw one of the notorious death camps.  When a younger couple and their small son move into the apartment under hers, Gretel is pulled back in time to other small boys who were part of her life. Can she now save this boy from his father's bullying and abuse? Or will Gretel have to give up some of her secrets?

Those who have read Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas know what a great storyteller the author is. He can make the past both interesting and real. The characters are well drawn and the switches between places and time periods are easy to understand. This is a book that readers will think about long after the last page is turned.