All the Broken Places: A Novel

A struggle for Good
The author said of “All the Broken Places” that he always had a fascination with and even a fear of the effects of the Holocaust—the evil result and enduring stain of Hitler’s autocratic rule, and its influence on the struggle for good. Boyne says that this book, “a sequel to his earlier work, “Striped Pajamas,” is about guilt, complicity and grief and examines how culpable a young person might be, given the historical event unfolding around her and whether such a person can ever cleanse themselves of crimes committed by people she loved.”This book begins with a quote from Voltaire, an 18th century historian and philosopher, who wrote Candide, a satire on optimism in an evil world: “If everyman is guilty of the good he did not do, then I have spent an entire lifetime convincing myself that I am innocent of all the bad.”Gretel is the protagonist who struggles with guilt due to her own acts of commission and omission, acts of helpless association with others, guilt’s assuagement based on excuses, lies, self-preservation and, finally, redemption. She also struggles with the complexity and valence of evil not reserved to the horrors of a concentration camp.The craft of this historical novel covers 77 years of Gretel’s 92 years of life: 1945-2022, from the time she was a girl of 15 living with her loving family in the commandant’s quarters at Auschwitz in Poland until her imprisonment at age 92 in London. The 30 or so chapters are rapid-fire vignettes of past, present, past, present…, each of which demands the reader’s attention and memory, insisting along a common thread that past and present are one and the same because the familiar struggles with life keep re-emerging in different contexts—wherever you go, there you are. A strictly linear story-line would be less surprising, perhaps less interesting. The point of the book is the ubiquity of the mystery of evil cohabiting with good, the determination and drift of free will, the pressure points of contexts, the imposition of history, the relationships chosen among credible characters.Good historical novels, such as this one, showcase what real life in charged moments like post-Nazi Europe feels like on the street, in a home, with or without a family, and, above all, in the minds and decisions of credible, relatable characters. There is power in this book and a few surprises.

Suspend logic
I thought this book to be an interesting read. I enjoy historical fiction, so this novel reads well in that regard. But it stretches the imagination to think that Gretel’s mother, a German trying to hide her German nationality, would go to Paris with her 15 year old daughter after the war. It’s not logical! Perhaps, if they had gone to Switzerland or Sweden or another country that had been neutral during that period it might make sense. But really, you have to suspend belief to think she would have gone to Paris.Then, I find it hard to believe that Gretel had so much guilt. She was a child/teen when the events happened. She lived in a controlling environment and had been essentially brainwashed from an early age. It was like being in a cult. She knew right from wrong in the context of which she had grown up. This is not to absolve her of all actions, but really the guilt seems overdone considering the lack of control she had over anything. A psychologist could best speak to this, but we do know that a persons brain is often not fully developed until their late to mid- twenties. The heavy guilt about the war did not ring true. Maybe she would have some about her brother, but the rest just seemed a contrived story line. Perhaps if she had been in her late teens this overwhelming guilt trip might make sense.Also, the fact that Gretel did not realize that David was so obviously Jewish given his surname and her background does not ring true. Again, have to suspend belief and go with the storylineI have not read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, so perhaps that would have given greater context to this novel. I found the storyline regarding Heidi and her concern for Henry much more believable and realistic. Although, in some ways I question how likely it was that she and her husband would ended up living in the same building as her daughter that she had given up at birth.Overall, an enjoyable story as long as you don’t think logically about certain aspects of the novel.

you must purchase you won’t want to put it down

All the Broken Places is a sequel to John Boyne’s “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. The Boy…. was, I thought, ridiculous, because anyone who understands Auschwitz knows beyond doubt that what happened in that first book would have been absolutely impossible. No-one could sit somewhere unmolested, let alone lift the bottom wires of a fence to allow in a visiting friend. That first book was seen by me as an exercise in ignorance and money-making. “All the Broken Places” is, however, completely different. It is totally absorbing and impossible to put down. Simply, it is the story of “the boy’s” sister and mother post-war. It eventually takes us into his sister’s life as she ages, living in England, her great fear being that her true identity and history will be uncovered and revealed. The story is tense, exciting, psychologically astute, and impossible to forget. I loved this book and recommend it to all those who enjoy literary fiction. Five stars.