Annexed made my heart ache for Anne Frank all over again.
What girl doesn't remember reading Anne Frank's diary for the first time?
This is Sharon Dogar's fictional story of what happened in the Annex and afterwards, as imagined from Peter Van Pels's perspective.
Much controversy surrounded this book before it was even published. I can only offer my opinion of the book, and I will try to weigh in on whether or not I agree with the criticisms made to Ms. Dogar and her fictional work.
She writes in the preface:
"In this novel, based on history, I try to imagine what it might have been like to have actually lived with Anne Frank. To become the target of her love, and to be so cruelly torn apart from her, just as liberation was coming to Holland."
The novel is broken into two parts - the first of which was the time Peter and his family spent in hiding in the Annex with the Franks, the second was what happened after they were found.
I believe the first part of the novel is that which is attracting so much criticism. While I am not a scholar when it comes to Anne Frank, I can say that there were some scenes in this first part that rubbed me the wrong way. Was this because I did not like someone messing with the Anne Frank we know and love, or was it just because I didn't particularly care for a certain scene? I am not sure.
On the other hand, it was nice to see more of Peter and the Van Pels, especially his mother, whom I remember disliking from Anne's diary. I think the hardest thing for me, as it probably was for many readers, was that Annexed made me question the whole truth of Anne's diary. Even though we all know there is more than one side to every story, many of us have embraced Anne's story since we were children. To have her story questioned in any way is blasphemy to many. But, I think Sharon Dogar wrote this first part with no ill intentions. In fact, she admits to changing some of the minor facts around, while somehow making Anne Frank more real and more accessible to me than ever before.
I usually enjoy a fictional story about true historical characters - and Annexed was no different. I enjoyed seeing what might have happened in the Annex, or how things may have happened slightly differently. Even though some people may have found the differences between Annexed and the diary disrespectful to Anne Frank's memory, I did not. I wish there were more we knew about her. Even Otto Frank admitted that the Anne Frank in the diary was not the Anne he knew. I wish Peter had kept a diary, or wrote letters or that there is more of an account of him. For now, I will just enjoy Ms. Dogar's conceptualization of Peter's point of view.
On to the second part of the book. After they were discovered...
This is where you may as well rip my heart out of my chest and stomp on it. The Franks and the Van Pels were on the last train into Auschwitz from Holland. This is a fact. The last train. If Anne Frank had not been on that train, she would have only been in her eighties today, and more of her writing would have been shared with the world. The last train. I can't quite get that out of my head.
The rest of the story follows the Van Pels and the Franks out of Holland, on the trains, into the lines (where Peter was so afraid and confused, he regrets how easily it was to let go of his mother's hand.), and on to where he would live, work, and slowly die. This is where Sharon Dogar painstakingly researched the path the Franks and Van Pels could have taken, what may have happened to them, where they may have been sent, and how they may have lived and died. All except for Otto Frank, Anne's father. The man who tried to hide and save them all, he was the only one who survived.
Anyone who has read Elie Wiesel's Night, Spiegelman's Maus, or Zusak's The Book Thief can appreciate how carefully the second part of Annexed was crafted. The fictional Peter described his days, but mostly how he tried not to remember his life before, the happiness he felt, and the girl he loved. Anne loved Peter, that much we know is true, and I, for one, was glad that Sharon Dogar gave Peter a voice with which he could love Anne in return.
Do I agree with the controversy? Not even a little bit. I believe the the author was as respectful as one could be to Anne Frank, while allowing herself some creative freedom. Ultimately, this is a work of fiction most lovingly written about real people beloved throughout the world.
