My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank: The Memoirs of Anne Frank's Best Friend [Hardcover]

Jacqueline Van Maarsen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1905147104 | ISBN-13: 978-1905147106 | Publication Date: September 1, 2007

A fascinating and very moving account of a remarkable friendship.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In her Diary, Anne Frank gave her best friend the nickname Jopie, and that has allowed van Maarsen to keep her identity secret so long: "I didn't want to be special because my friend had died in the camps," she says. It is that simple self-effacement that makes this memoir, translated from the Dutch, special. Yes, memoir. Unlike the many fictionalized Diary spin-offs, this is a true story with a candid, intimate view of Anne: ebullient, idealistic, very demanding, jealous, curious about sex, secular: she "did always love being the center of attention." The girls met in the Jewish school in Amsterdam. They felt the Nazi menace but never dreamed of what would come. Just as gripping is the detail of what happened to van Maarsen's half-Jewish family, including her conversion to Judaism and then the desperate undoing of that conversion that allowed her to survive. After the war, Otto Frank shared the Diary with her, and they talked about what Anne had said. The girls' parallel lives then and the history we know now raise the heartbreaking question, What if? Rochman, Hazel

Review

"One of the strongest moments here is [the] description of a visit to the Franks' house immediately after their 'departure.' Van Maarsen saw Anne's unmade bed, her new shoes lying on the floor, the entire house uncharacteristically unkempt, the breakfast dishes not yet washed."  —Kirkus Reviews

"The Anne Frank phenomenon has . . . obscured the 'real' Anne Frank, and Maarsen's volume may serve as a small corrective . . . this book is in fact a quasi-memoir by one of Frank's best friends at school in Holland before the Frank family went into hiding in 1942; part 2 includes candid accounts of Anne's personality, behaviour, and attitudes."  —Choice

"This startling new edition of Dutch Jewish teenager Anne Frank's classic diary . . .  contains approximately 30% more material than the original 1947 edition. It completely revises our understanding of one of the most moving and eloquent documents of the Holocaust. The Anne we meet here is much more sarcastic, rebellious and vulnerable than the sensitive diarist beloved by millions. Expanded entries provide a fuller picture of the tensions and quarrels among the eight people in hiding. Anne . . . candidly discusses her awakening sexuality in entries that were omitted from the 1947 edition by her father. This crisp, stunning translation provides an unvarnished picture of life in the "secret annex."  —Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 178 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Books (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905147104
• ISBN-13: 978-1905147106
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,199,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding contribution to (further) understanding Anne Frank, March 19, 2008

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank: The Memoirs of Anne Frank's Best Friend (Hardcover)

Jacqueline van Maarsen is a contemporary of Anne Frank, and only in recent years has begun speaking out more and more about her experiences and interaction with Anne Frank. This book was originally published in the Netherlands in 2003, and now is finally available in the US.

"My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank" (176 pages) is structured in 3 parts: Parts 1 and 3 deal with her mom and dad, respectively, and Part 2, by far the longest, deal with her own experiences living in the years leading up to the war, the war time itself with the occupation of Amsterdam by the Germans, and the aftermath of the war. The author, who is half-Jewish, brings us fascinating insights on what life really was like in those dark days of the late 30 and the 1940s. The author became best friends with Anne, and spent a lot of time with her in the years until Anne and her family went in hiding in the summer of 1942. There are some descriptions in the book regarding her friendship with Anne that I felt were almost too close for comfort. The author never saw Anne again after the Frank family went into hiding (and eventually was betrayed--it's still not clear by whom), but brings us touching, even heart-breaking, descriptions on her post-war dealings with Otto Frank, Anne's father (and the sole survivor of the Frank family). She writes: "He often wept when he was with me. I didn't know how to deal with that." Wow... how could a 16-17 yr old child bring comfort to Anne's dad?

Anne Frank's contributions to history and her influence continue to this day, not only through the on-going sales of her diaries, but also as a result of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam (which I've had a chance to visit and will readily recommend to anyone). Meanwhile, "My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank" is a nice addition to understanding not only the context of Anne Frank better, but even more importantly, to also better understand what life was really like, and the unspeakable crime that was the holocaust, which nevertheless must be spoken about for the sake of our children and our children's children. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and endearing, April 6, 2009

By 

raw1 - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank: The Memoirs of Anne Frank's Best Friend (Paperback)

Truth to be told the book is more about Jacque's life and family during the Second World War than her friendship with Anne Frank which didn't bother me the least as I found her life interesting and revealing. Her 'best friend' still features prominently in the text and I believe the author gives a very frank image of her, something that cannot be gathered from her famous diary.

As half-Jewish the author gives us a unique look at the war situation from both a Jewish and a non-Jewish point of view. Her vivid memory and detailed descriptions only add to the overall story which is well structured. Despite all the details the surnames of the people involved are never mentioned which is understandable but also glaring.

It also needs to be said though that her autobiography is not as enthralling or captivating as other Holocaust books as she is more of an observant than a victim. However the overall structure and alluding details will manage to keep you interested. For good measure she also adds a brief biography of each of her parents which in turn provides a frank view of the author herself.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The girl Anne Frank referred to as her 'best friend', June 11, 2009

By 

Gary Selikow (Great Kush) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank: The Memoirs of Anne Frank's Best Friend (Paperback)

This autobiographical work adds deeper understanding to those interested in knowing more about the narrative of Anne Frank.
It is told by the girl referred to in Anne Frank's diary as her 'best friend'.
The book is divided into three parts telling of the story of the author Jacqueline's mother Eline, Jacqueline herself, and of her father Hijman.
Jacqueline had a Jewish father and a French gentile mother, so it is a unique story of somebody coming from both worlds, although through help of relatives, she did not have to go into hiding and was not transported to the camps, so this is one some levels more the account of an observer.

The author reveals her own discomfort at both their history teacher's strong words against Catholics while discussing the Spanish Inquisition at the Jewish Lyceum, as well as her pain at hearing the anti-Semitic statements from friend who did not know she was half Jewish.
It explores the author's friendship with Anne, and Anne's zest for life, liveliness and sexual curiosity.
The author explains how her some of her family and friends operated in the Dutch resistance to Nazi rule, and her meetings with Otto Frank after the war who handed her Anne's diary.

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz it is revealed that Even though she is married to a Jew and she loves Israel, Jacqueline Van Maarsen does not feel herself to be Jewish. "After the war, I didn't want to be a Jew anymore," she says. "I suffered a lot because of my Jewishness, though not like most of the Jews of Holland, and I thought - I don't want to be Jew, and I also don't want to be a Catholic. I know that for the Jews, I'm not considered Jewish, and I'm not really a Catholic, but it really doesn't matter to me anymore. I am who I am. I saw the discrimination against the Jews and I felt it, but I can't say that I'm a Jew."