by John Boyne
Part of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
First published 2022
Gretel Fernsby has spent decades in her comfortable London apartment, keeping silent about her childhood in Nazi Germany. At ninety-one, she has built a quiet life that conceals her father's role as commandant of an extermination camp and her own flight from Germany at twelve. When Henry, a young boy, moves into the apartment below with his parents, Gretel finds herself drawn into an unexpected friendship despite her careful isolation. The boy's presence stirs memories she has worked to suppress. One evening, Gretel witnesses a violent fight between Henry's parents that threatens to shatter her protected existence. She faces a choice that mirrors one from her past. Decades ago, she refused to acknowledge her own role in terrible events. Now she has the chance to act differently, to save Henry from danger. But helping the boy means exposing the secrets she has guarded her entire adult life. The story moves between her wartime childhood and present day London as Gretel confronts the weight of her silence and the possibility of finally choosing courage over self-preservation.
Genres: holocaust, drama, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotionally-complex, haunting, intimate, introspective, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-timeline, found-family, moral-choice, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Nazi Germany
Period: World War II, 21st century
400 pages · Hardcover · Pamela Dorman Books
Content warnings: child-abuse, domestic-violence, war