All the Broken Places

A breathtaking tour de force about a woman who must face the crimes of her own horrific history and a current in which it is never too late for courage comes from New York Times bestselling novelist John Boyne.

Gretel Fernsby, 91, has spent decades living in the same affluent mansion block in London. She has a dark, very unsettling history, yet she leads a peaceful, pleasant existence now. She keeps quiet about her twelve-year-old escape from Nazi Germany. She and her mother don't discuss the difficult postwar years in France. She mostly stays silent regarding her father, the head of one of the most infamous extermination camps during the Reich.

The flat below her is thereafter occupied by a new family. Despite her own shortcomings, Gretel finds herself befriending Henry, the tiny child, even if his presence reminds her of things she would want to forget. She observes Henry's haughty father and his gorgeous mother having a furious dispute one evening that puts Gretel's independent life in jeopardy.

All the Broken Places is a gripping, unputdownable book that alternates between Gretel's childhood in Germany and the current day in London. Gretel finds herself at a crossroads that is identical to the one she saw ages ago. She denied her own involvement at the time, but now that she has an opportunity to examine her sorrow, shame, and regret, she might decide to rescue a little kid. Should she choose to do so, she will have to divulge the secrets she has spent her whole life guarding. She has the option to choose differently this time, regardless of the cost to herself.