--- product_id: 584757538 title: "All the Broken Places: A Novel" price: "₹ 2853" currency: INR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.in/products/584757538-all-the-broken-places-a-novel store_origin: IN region: India --- # All the Broken Places: A Novel **Price:** ₹ 2853 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** All the Broken Places: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** ₹ 2853 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.in](https://www.desertcart.in/products/584757538-all-the-broken-places-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “You can’t prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel.” —John Irving From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a stunning tour de force 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 twelve. She doesn’t talk about the grim postwar 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. Immersive, chilling, unputdownable, All the Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany and present-day London. Here, Gretel is at a similar crossroads to the one she encountered long ago. 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. Review: 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. Review: A Good Book - It’s connected to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by the same author. Deals with a lot a very heavy subject, such as Nazis and victims of concentration camps, familial physical abuse, divorce, etc. A real page turner with a surprise ending. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #3,095 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #31 in World War II Historical Fiction #31 in Historical World War II & Holocaust Fiction #282 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 36,159 Reviews | ## Images ![All the Broken Places: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81eXS0KA5yL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A struggle for Good *by R***I on December 8, 2025* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Good Book *by S***D on July 3, 2026* It’s connected to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by the same author. Deals with a lot a very heavy subject, such as Nazis and victims of concentration camps, familial physical abuse, divorce, etc. A real page turner with a surprise ending. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Will all the King's horses and all the King's men... *by J***N on July 23, 2024* To the great plethora of books about the devastation of Nazi Germany is added "All the Broken Places" by Irish writer John Boyne. While well-written and compulsively readable, the plot of this novel hinges on a falsehood -- that the children of Nazi war criminals could be persecuted for the crimes of their parents. Having watched the excellent documentary "Hitler's Children" when it came out about ten years ago, I immediately questioned this premise. I did some more research and found that I was right. The wives of Nazi elite could be brought in for questioning, to be sure, by the Nuremberg tribunal, but even they weren't charged with crimes. The children were treated as children, innocent bystanders. So, without this reality, much of the motivation for the actions of the main character, Gretel Fernsby, is dubious. Her personal guilt for what happened to her brother makes more sense. But even this triggered something in my brain, for I knew I had heard this particular plot before. And, indeed, I read the author's biography and found that he was the author of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". I'd watched the movie years before. The plot of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is also part of this book. The book moves along quite smartly, flipping between 2022 and the post-WW2 period and even mid twentieth-century, and I didn't find this narrative technique hard to follow. There is no doubt that Boyne can spin a tale. The problem becomes the believability of the plot. There is also a lot of very unpleasant narrative about wife and child abuse that I found upsetting. Necessary to the plot, but just hard to read. Still, I found I couldn't put it down because I kept wanting to know what was going to happen. So, all in all, a good read, but certainly not destined to be a classic. ## Frequently Bought Together - All the Broken Places: A Novel - The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel - The Lost Bookshop: The most charming and uplifting novel for 2025 and the perfect gift for book lovers! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.in/products/584757538-all-the-broken-places-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.in/products/584757538-all-the-broken-places-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart India* *Store origin: IN* *Last updated: 2026-07-25*