All the Broken Places

In Sydney, Gretel likes riding the ferries. They make her feel adventurous and that Paris, Berlin, and the “other place” are far away. Gretel follows Kurt Kotler on the ferry and learns he works for the Commonwealth Bank. She also follows him home and watches him greet his blonde wife and young son. The wife sees Gretel, and Gretel smiles, and the wife nods. Gretel sticks around to watch Kotler push his son on the swing. She puts her hand on the fence, which bleeds from how hard she holds it.

The lunch with Eleanor and Caden continues. Gretel thinks Eleanor is a nurse, but she’s a heart surgeon, which impresses Gretel. She could never do a job like that. Caden agrees—his father helped him when he got hurt. Eleanor discusses what happens when she loses a patient: She feels guilt—like it’s her fault.

They discuss Gretel’s stints in France, Australia, and England. Upsetting his mother, Caden mentions Poland. For a school trip, Eleanor visited Poland and went to Auschwitz. The concentration camp scared her. She’s seen Holocaust movies and documentaries and read Holocaust books, but going there is different. Eleanor asks Gretel—whom she calls “Mrs.