''Annelies'' is a 2019 novel by David R. Gillham, which has a depiction of

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

surviving her term in the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentra ...

and reuniting with her father,

Otto Frank Otto Heinrich Frank (12 May 1889 – 19 August 1980) was a German businessman who later became a resident of the Netherlands and Switzerland. He was the father of Anne and Margot Frank and husband of Edith Frank, and was the sole member o ...

Background

Gillham stated that he conceived of the novel after reading ''

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...

'' while in his late 20s and wondering what works an adult Anne Frank would have written. He had prior attempts to write the novel, but the one that ultimately created the book started circa 2011. As part of his research he conducted an interview of a Dutch person who was acquainted with

, watched other interviews, and read memoirs of people who experienced

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and other books about Anne Frank. He also did in-person visits of two concentration camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau and

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...

, as well as doing a visit of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. He was 61 when he released the novel. This is the second novel written by Gillham.

Plot

The novel traces Anne's life and depicts her sister

Margot Frank Margot Betti Frank (16 February 1926 – ) was the elder daughter of Otto Frank and Edith Frank and the elder sister of Anne Frank. Margot's deportation order from the Gestapo hastened the Frank family into hiding. According to the diary of he ...

dying. After the war Otto conceals Anne's diary, and Anne becomes argumentative with him. Steve Pfarrer of ''

Daily Hampshire Gazette The ''Daily Hampshire Gazette'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, and covering all of Hampshire County, southern towns of Franklin County, and Holyoke. The newspaper prints Monday through S ...

'' wrote that Gillham's Anne "is alternately angry, despairing, and ridden with guilt". Anne Frank attempts to have a tryst with a boy and begins smoking cigarettes, and she receives criticism from other people who had experienced the Holocaust. After the diary is revealed Anne becomes less combative and uses the diary to highlight what happened to her to the public.

Reception

Susan Ellingwood of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' stated that Gillham "does a good job" in showing an Anne affected by

survivor's guilt Survivor guilt (or survivor's guilt; also called survivor syndrome or survivor's syndrome and survivor disorder or survivor's disorder) is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumati ...

, but that the scenario between Anne and Otto annoyed her and "leave the reader disappointed with this girl they once loved." Ultimately Ellingwood believed the readers were already well-served by the original '' Diary of Anne Frank''. Patty Rhule of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' gave the book three of four stars. She concluded "a novel that reminds the world to remember Anne Frank is most welcome" even though "No novelist, however gifted, could rival the power of Anne Frank". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' argued that the book was "disappointing", citing the post-war segment, and that it "never lives up to the promise of its premise" despite the "noble effort" and the quality of the research. '' Kirkus Reviews'' stated that the writing quality was noticeably inferior to that of the original diary's and that "flat-footed storytelling weakens the impact"; it added that the concept was a "brave risk".

References

{{Cultural depictions of Anne Frank 2019 American novels Cultural depictions of Anne Frank American alternate history novels Viking Press books

Background

Plot

Reception

See also

References