> Skip to content
Read an extract
Play sample
  • Published: 18 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9781529176131
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $22.99

All The Broken Places

The Sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas




From the author of the multi-million-copy classic, and The Heart's Invisible Furies. 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.

Gretel Fernsby is a quiet woman leading a quiet life. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany seventy years ago or the dark 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.

But when a young family moves into the apartment below her, Gretel can't help but befriend their little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back painful memories. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between his parents, which threatens to disturb her hard-won peace.

For the second time in her life, Gretel is given the chance to save a young boy. To do so would allay her guilt, grief and remorse, but it will also force her to reveal her true identity. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself?

  • Published: 18 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9781529176131
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

John Boyne

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, six for younger readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John’s other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. Most recently, The Heart's Invisible Furies was a Richard & Judy Bookclub word-of-mouth bestseller, and A Ladder to the Sky was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award in association with Listowel Writers’ Week.

His novels are published in over fifty languages.

Also by John Boyne

See all

Praise for All The Broken Places

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

This novel, this exceptional, layered and compelling story, is built on modern history and all of us people who live it. The protagonist, the elderly, forthright and mysterious Mrs. Fernsby, is more than memorable and every one of Boyne's characters, and every scene, dark or light, is limned in truth and insight. This book moves like a freight train,with force and consequence for the reader.

Amy Bloom

'What an incredible feat of storytelling. All the Broken Places is a stark confrontation of evil, an examination of guilt and deflection, and an old-fashioned page-turner. John treads the finest of narrative lines with skill and grace and proves himself yet again to be among the world's greatest storytellers. '

Donal Ryan

'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

An eloquent meditation on guilt, complicity and redemption.. a remarkable novel, with humanity at its core

Mail on Sunday

Beautifully told and gripping from first page to last

Sunday Express

Gripping and well-honed...consummately constructed, humming with tension... a defence of literature's need to shine a light on the darkest aspects of human nature and it does so with a novelist's skill, precision and power

The Guardian

Gripping and well honed...Consumately constructed, humming with tension...A defence of literature's need to shine a light on the darkest aspets of human nature and it does so with a noveli's skill, precision and power

The Guardian

A remarkable novel with humanity at its core...An eloquent meditation on guilt, complicity and redemption

Mail On Sunday

Beautifully told and gripping from first page to last

Sunday Express

A really engaging novel about grief and whether or not anyone can be held accountable for the deeds of those they love

Press Association

Discover more

Article
The best books to read with your book club in autumn 2024

These are the Penguin Random House books that over 80,000 book clubs voted as the best group reads this month.