John Boyne

Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence. Reprint.

A Fable

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

A Novel

All the Broken Places

Adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple who remind him that he is not a real member of their family, Cyril embarks on a journey to find himself and where he came from, discovering his identity, a home, a country, and much more throughout a long lifetime.

The heart's invisible furies

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past. But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes? Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.

Water

الصبي ذو البيجاما المقلمة

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 twelve. 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 . . .

From bestselling author John Boyne, a gripping and profound exploration of guilt, blame, trauma, and the human capacity for redemption. In The Elements, acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne has created an epic saga that weaves together four interconnected narratives, each representing a different perspective on crime: the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. The narrative follows a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and a father on a transformative journey with his son. Each is somehow connected to the next, and as the story unfolds, their lives intersect in unimaginable ways. Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving investigation of why and how we allow crime to occur. With masterful, spellbinding prose, he navigates this complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty. The story resonates on a deeply emotional level, challenging readers to confront their own conceptions of guilt and innocence at every step. Amid the wildly engrossing storytelling, the book ultimately asks: What would you do when faced with the unthinkable?

The Elements

‘Hartverscheurend. Toen de wereld brak is een prachtig verhaal over de nasleep van de oorlog en de effecten van een leven lang lijden aan een schuldgevoel.’ JAN Magazine ‘Confronterend. De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama krijgt een indringend vervolg met het verhaal van diens zus, Gretel.’ Nouveau ‘Buitengewoon goed gedaan.’ Anthoni Fierloos in AD MEZZA ‘Fascinerend en mooi geschreven.’ Maritza Dubravac in AD MEZZA De nieuwe, grote roman van John Boyne: het vervolg op de bestseller De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama volgt Bruno's zus Gretel, en verkent via haar op meeslepende en ontroerende wijze de nasleep van de oorlog en de effecten van een levenslang schuldgevoel Gretel Fernsby woont al tientallen jaren in een luxe appartement in Londen. Ze leidt een ogenschijnlijk comfortabel en kalm leven, ondanks haar donkere verleden. Ze spreekt niet over haar ontsnapping uit Duitsland meer dan zeventig jaar geleden. Ze spreekt ook niet over de naoorlogse jaren in Frankrijk met haar moeder. En bovenal spreekt ze niet over haar vader, commandant van het meest beruchte concentratiekamp van de nazi’s, of over het gruwelijke lot dat haar broertje Bruno onderging. Dan komt er een jong gezin wonen in het appartement onder haar. Gretel sluit aarzelend vriendschap met de negenjarige Henry, hoewel hij herinneringen bij haar oproept die ze juist probeert te vergeten. Toen de wereld brak is een hartverscheurend, prachtig verhaal over een vrouw die haar verleden onder ogen moet komen om iets recht te zetten wat haar al levenslang achtervolgt. Wat het hart verwoest in de pers ‘Boyne trakteert ons op veel spannende scènes, op grappige dialogen en op ontroering.’ **** NRC Handelsblad ‘Met zijn soepele stijl loodst Boyne je moeiteloos door dit vaak geestige boek. Een goede stap in zijn schrijverschap.’ **** AD ‘IJzersterk epos.’ Dirk-Jan Arensman, VPRO Gids

Het vervolg op de bestseller De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama

Toen de wereld brak

Heart's Invisible Furies

Een aangrijpend verhaal dat je nog lang zal bijblijven Als de zevenjarige Pierrot zijn beide ouders verliest, moet hij zijn huis in Parijs verlaten om een nieuw leven te beginnen bij zijn Duitse tante Beatrix. Zij is huishoudster bij rijke mensen die boven op een berg wonen, ergens in Duitsland. Maar het zijn geen gewone tijden: Pierrot leeft in 1935 en de Tweede Wereldoorlog nadert met rasse schreden. Evenmin is het huis op de bergtop een gewoon huis; het is Berghof, het adelaarsnest waarin Adolf Hitler zich regelmatig terugtrekt. Pierrot maakt al snel deel uit van Hitlers wereld. Een gevaarlijke wereld waarin terreur, geheimen en verraad aan de orde van de dag zijn. Is ontsnapping nog mogelijk? De pers over De jongen op de berg ‘Boyne is er een meester in het verhaal snel op gang te brengen en je meteen vertrouwd te maken met de personages.’ Nederlands Dagblad ‘Het is Boyne gelukt om de lezer door de ogen van een kind niet alleen het opgroeien als buitenbeentje te laten ervaren, maar ook de oorlog en alle brute gebeurtenissen die daarbij horen. Dat is knap en maakt het een interessant boek.’ Hebban.nl ‘Een adembenemend boek.’ Leeskost.nl ‘Pakkend geschreven verhaal.’ NBD Biblion

Pierrot wordt opgenomen in Hitlers buitenhuis, maar moet daardoor zijn afkomst te verraden

De jongen op de berg

1946. Three years after a cataclysmic event which tore their lives apart, a mother and daughter flee Poland for Paris, shame and fear at their heels, not knowing how hard it is to escape your past. Nearly eighty years later, Gretel Fernsby lives a life that is a far cry from her traumatic childhood. When a couple moves into the flat below her in her London mansion block, it should be nothing more than a momentary inconvenience. However, the appearance of their nine-year-old son Henry brings back memories she would rather forget. Faced with a choice between her own safety and his, Gretel is taken back to a similar crossroads she encountered long ago. Back then, her complicity dishonoured her life, but to interfere now could risk revealing the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting.

Uma Escada para o Céu

Absolutist

September 1919: Twenty-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War. They trained together. They fought together. But in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield and declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family. The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. Whatever happens, this meeting will change his life – forever.

The Absolutist

On the face of it, Freya lives a gilded existence, dancing solely to her own tune. She has all the trappings of wealth and privilege, a responsible job as a surgeon specialising in skin grafts, a beautiful flat in a sought-after development, and a flash car. But it wasn’t always like this. Hers is a life founded on darkness.

Did what happened to Freya as a child one fateful summer influence the adult she would become – or was she always destined to be that person? Was she born with cruelty in her heart or did something force it into being?

In Fire, John Boyne takes the reader on a chilling, uncomfortable but utterly compelling psychological journey to the epicentre of the human condition, asking the age-old question: nurture – or nature?

Fire

Drabina do nieba

A seductive, unputdownable psychodrama following one brilliant, ruthless man who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of success Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn't have is talent - but he's not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don't need to be his own. Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful - but desperately lonely - older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice's first novel. Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall... Sweeping across the late twentieth century, A Ladder to the Sky is a fascinating portrait of a relentlessly immoral man, a tour de force of storytelling, and the next great novel from an acclaimed literary virtuoso.

John Boyne

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