When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German mountains. But this is no ordinary time, for it is 1935 and the Second World War is fast approaching; and this is no ordinary house, for this is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler.
Quickly, Pierrot is taken under Hitler's wing, and is thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world: a world of terror, secrets and betrayal, from which he may never be able to escape.
John Boyne has done it again.
John Boyne has done it again. He's written a powerful book set in WW2 to provoke beliefs about ethics, power and control. And perhaps how easily 'the innocent can be corrupted'. A character is quick to point out that people in such a position as Pieter cannot tell themselves they didn't know what was going on as that would be the biggest crime of all. Scary to see what a gentle boy can become in the hands of some one like Hitler. - Sam
Liverpool, 11/03/2016
