All the Broken Places

More about the book

An elderly London resident befriends a little boy who moves in downstairs, but his parents' fighting triggers memories of her traumatic escape from Nazi Germany at age twelve and the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived a quiet, comfortable life in a well-to-do mansion block, concealing her deeply disturbing past. She avoids discussing her escape, her difficult years in France, and especially her father, who was a commandant at a notorious extermination camp. When a new family moves in below, Gretel finds herself forming a friendship with the little boy, Henry, despite the memories he evokes. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between Henry's mother and father, threatening her carefully maintained solitude. The narrative shifts between Gretel's childhood in Germany and her present life in London, revealing how her past continues to haunt her. Now, she faces a crossroads similar to one she encountered long ago. Previously, she denied her complicity, but now she has the opportunity to confront her guilt and remorse. She must decide whether to intervene and save a young boy, a choice that would require her to reveal long-held secrets and confront the consequences of her actions, even at great personal cost.