Annelies

Anne Frank is 16. She has survived the concentration camps and returned to Amsterdam, where she reunites with her father Pim and learns they are the only two from the annex that have survived. This imagined alternate world where Anne Frank lives to go back home and retrieve the infamous diary has left my head spinning. The what if’s do not seem wasteful, they are thought provoking alternatives analyzing the depth of anger, forgiveness, and guilt that survivors struggle with for their entire lives. Forgiveness may seem impossible but is also necessary to be free. As a child I read The Diary of Anne Frank over and over again. As an adult I continue reading these reimagined novels focusing what could have been, what may have happened. It may not always be pleasant to revisit such a painful story but it is sometimes necessary. In some way we are still feeding this desire to understand how this atrocity happened and never forget those we lost. Excellent author, well researched and a truly touching story.