All the Broken Places (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas #2) by John Boyne

Amy  

historical fiction

Gretel, a German girl whose father was a leader in Hitler’s regime, suffered for her father’s crimes and had a difficult young adulthood. She is now an old woman living in England. But her past still haunts her. She has been carrying guilt for over 80 years.

I had not read the first novel in this series, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but All the Broken Places was selected for one of my book clubs. I read it even though I normally prefer to read all the books in a series in the order in which they were written. Thankfully, this novel was terrific even without reading the prequel.

John Boyne is a marvelous writer. This is the third novel of his that I’ve read and I’ve loved them all. He is able to relay the essence of his characters and their time in history perfectly. He has a sense of humor (which isn’t so prevalent in this novel but is still there) and characters who aren’t good or bad but somewhere inbetween. Gretel’s choices, deceits, shining moments, and shames all felt very authentic. The story was so compelling and even had a pleasant surprise near the end that wasn’t necessary but was extremely satisfying. (I’m not talking about the climax at the end, but the simple, heartwarming fact which was divulged to the reader about one of Gretel’s choices.)

Gretel’s story is told alternatingly between her past and her present, in the first person always. This was a very effective way of keeping the momentum going. The audiobook employed two narrators to voice these different times of Gretel’s life. Young Gretel was voiced by Kristin Atherton and old Gretel was Helen Lloyd. They both were perfectly cast for their roles.  Young Gretel required a larger voice repertoire including many different accents. Atherton did a great job with all the voices including male voices! I see she’s an actress with a minor role in one of the few TV series I watch (based on a beloved book series—Outlander) and I will certainly pay more attention to her on screen in the future.  I’m not sure when I last gave an ensemble an A+ but Atherton and Lloyd did an amazing job with this novel and deserve it!