All the Broken Places: A Novel
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Description
“Exceptional, layered and compelling…This book moves like a freight train.” —Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love
From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery
Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn’t talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps.
Then, a new 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 disturbing, violent argument between Henry’s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence.
All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before—whatever the cost to herself….
Book Information
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*** Deutsch *** Dies war ein fantastisches Hörerlebnis! Ich wollte nicht, dass es endet! Eine ergreifende Geschichte, spannend erzählt von Elisabeth Günter, die mich von Anfang bis zum Ende unterhielt. Gretel, dessen Reise in den 30‘er Jahren in Berlin beginnt, durchquert verschiedene Phasen und Länder in ihrem Leben in neun Jahrzehnten. Im NS Regime vom Schicksal ihres Vaters gebrandmarkt sowie von Schuldgefühlen geplagt, stellt sie manchmal eine naive, manchmal eine rachsüchtige und manchmal eine mutige Frau dar. Trotz all ihrer Unzulänglichkeiten als Schwester oder Mutter, ist sie dennoch eine liebenswürdige Protagonistin…auch als sie eine weitere Todsünde begeht. Aber wer kann schon den ersten Stein werfen… Das Buch „Der Junge im Pyjama“ gilt als der Vorgänger zu diesem Buch, aber es lässt sich auch zweifellos stand-alone lesen. Ich würde mich nicht wundern, wenn auch dieses Buch verfilmt wird. Die Kehrtwendung in der Geschichte war keineswegs vorauszusehen. Sehr spannende historische Fiktion, die ich glasklar empfehle! ***Englisch*** This was an amazing listening experience that I didn't want it to end! Gretel, whose journey begins in Berlin in the 1930s, crosses different phases and countries in her life over nine decades. Branded by the fate of her father in the Nazi regime and plagued by guilt, she is sometimes a naïve, sometimes a vengeful and sometimes a courageous woman. Despite all her shortcomings as a sister or mother, she is still a lovely protagonist...even as she commits another mortal sin. But who can throw the first stone... The book "The Boy in Pajamas" is considered the predecessor to this book, but it can also undoubtedly be read stand-alone. I wouldn't be surprised, if this book was made into a film. The twist in the story was by no means predictable. Very exciting historical fiction, which I highly recommend!
Description
“Exceptional, layered and compelling…This book moves like a freight train.” —Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love
From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery
Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn’t talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps.
Then, a new 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 disturbing, violent argument between Henry’s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence.
All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before—whatever the cost to herself….
Book Information
Posts
*** Deutsch *** Dies war ein fantastisches Hörerlebnis! Ich wollte nicht, dass es endet! Eine ergreifende Geschichte, spannend erzählt von Elisabeth Günter, die mich von Anfang bis zum Ende unterhielt. Gretel, dessen Reise in den 30‘er Jahren in Berlin beginnt, durchquert verschiedene Phasen und Länder in ihrem Leben in neun Jahrzehnten. Im NS Regime vom Schicksal ihres Vaters gebrandmarkt sowie von Schuldgefühlen geplagt, stellt sie manchmal eine naive, manchmal eine rachsüchtige und manchmal eine mutige Frau dar. Trotz all ihrer Unzulänglichkeiten als Schwester oder Mutter, ist sie dennoch eine liebenswürdige Protagonistin…auch als sie eine weitere Todsünde begeht. Aber wer kann schon den ersten Stein werfen… Das Buch „Der Junge im Pyjama“ gilt als der Vorgänger zu diesem Buch, aber es lässt sich auch zweifellos stand-alone lesen. Ich würde mich nicht wundern, wenn auch dieses Buch verfilmt wird. Die Kehrtwendung in der Geschichte war keineswegs vorauszusehen. Sehr spannende historische Fiktion, die ich glasklar empfehle! ***Englisch*** This was an amazing listening experience that I didn't want it to end! Gretel, whose journey begins in Berlin in the 1930s, crosses different phases and countries in her life over nine decades. Branded by the fate of her father in the Nazi regime and plagued by guilt, she is sometimes a naïve, sometimes a vengeful and sometimes a courageous woman. Despite all her shortcomings as a sister or mother, she is still a lovely protagonist...even as she commits another mortal sin. But who can throw the first stone... The book "The Boy in Pajamas" is considered the predecessor to this book, but it can also undoubtedly be read stand-alone. I wouldn't be surprised, if this book was made into a film. The twist in the story was by no means predictable. Very exciting historical fiction, which I highly recommend!