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blondieesquire's review
5.0
Everyone should read this book. It’s heartbreaking and brilliantly written. Thank you, Melissa Müller, for honoring Anne’s life in such a beautiful way. I know she would love this book. May we never forget.
florapants84's review
5.0
I was sent a review copy of this book in April, and although I was so excited to read it, it just sat on my night stand collecting dust until I finally decided to pick it up. The reason for my trepidation? I am an extremely unreliable, emotional reader who is afraid of failure. I don't make promises to finish a book once I start it. I don't abide by rules or deadlines, and my ratings are almost always based on whether I was able to relate to the author and their work on a personal, down-to-earth level.
Don't even get me started on reviews. I'd rather write a review on a book that was mildly entertaining, than to attempt a gut wrenching one on a book I absolutely loved, out of fear of completely missing the mark or being misunderstood. Why even bother? Neurotic, much?
In the case of Anne Frank, we already know how the book ends. For this reason it took me six months to mentally prepare myself to really "go there", and I am so glad I waited!
Muller unhurriedly sits you down for a long, interesting "true story" about the Frank family, included extended family members, and the ripple effects of the National Socialist German Workers' Party rise to power. So rich in both family and social history, during the course of my reading, I started to feel as though I myself was being systematically stripped of personal freedoms that I never gave a second thought to, like riding a bike to work/school or meeting a friend for coffee, all the while in my heart hoping that this would be the extent of the Fuhrer's nonsensical whims.
Dread starts setting in when Otto moves his family to Amsterdam from Frankfurt, and many members of the extended family start seeking refuge in neighboring countries years before Hitler officially begins his greedy conquest. Relief is in sight, but for how long?
Relief turns to resignation and claustrophobia as Hitler and his armies surround Holland, after promising to respect its neutral stance. As the Franks' circle of Jewish friends start dwindling either because they've managed to get exit Visas to other countries, or have "volunteered" to serve time abroad in German work camps, resignation quickly turns into paranoia and gripping fear.
Like I said before, we all know how this story ends, but throughout this book, it's really easy to forget that; hope is such a resilient, tenacious quality...and it's also infectious. I think that what makes "The Annex Dwellers'" story so compelling (especially when I read Anne's diary for the first time as a 13-year-old) was just how close they all came to surviving--a matter of weeks or a couple of days/hours, in some cases, before the camps were liberated. To think that their story is just one in several millions. It's mind boggling. I sat lost in thought for the rest of the day after I finished this book. It was hard to say goodbye to the friends I had made, especially when it was abrupt and premature.
Definitely worth reading, even if you feel like you couldn't possible learn more. This is a revised edition to the original biography published in 1998, and so it included more information on pages that were not included in Anne's original diary, as well as additional information on who tipped the police about the annex and its inhabitants. Also included is background information on the team that helped hide them, and what life was like for everyone after the war ended.
Don't even get me started on reviews. I'd rather write a review on a book that was mildly entertaining, than to attempt a gut wrenching one on a book I absolutely loved, out of fear of completely missing the mark or being misunderstood. Why even bother? Neurotic, much?
In the case of Anne Frank, we already know how the book ends. For this reason it took me six months to mentally prepare myself to really "go there", and I am so glad I waited!
Muller unhurriedly sits you down for a long, interesting "true story" about the Frank family, included extended family members, and the ripple effects of the National Socialist German Workers' Party rise to power. So rich in both family and social history, during the course of my reading, I started to feel as though I myself was being systematically stripped of personal freedoms that I never gave a second thought to, like riding a bike to work/school or meeting a friend for coffee, all the while in my heart hoping that this would be the extent of the Fuhrer's nonsensical whims.
Dread starts setting in when Otto moves his family to Amsterdam from Frankfurt, and many members of the extended family start seeking refuge in neighboring countries years before Hitler officially begins his greedy conquest. Relief is in sight, but for how long?
Relief turns to resignation and claustrophobia as Hitler and his armies surround Holland, after promising to respect its neutral stance. As the Franks' circle of Jewish friends start dwindling either because they've managed to get exit Visas to other countries, or have "volunteered" to serve time abroad in German work camps, resignation quickly turns into paranoia and gripping fear.
Like I said before, we all know how this story ends, but throughout this book, it's really easy to forget that; hope is such a resilient, tenacious quality...and it's also infectious. I think that what makes "The Annex Dwellers'" story so compelling (especially when I read Anne's diary for the first time as a 13-year-old) was just how close they all came to surviving--a matter of weeks or a couple of days/hours, in some cases, before the camps were liberated. To think that their story is just one in several millions. It's mind boggling. I sat lost in thought for the rest of the day after I finished this book. It was hard to say goodbye to the friends I had made, especially when it was abrupt and premature.
Definitely worth reading, even if you feel like you couldn't possible learn more. This is a revised edition to the original biography published in 1998, and so it included more information on pages that were not included in Anne's original diary, as well as additional information on who tipped the police about the annex and its inhabitants. Also included is background information on the team that helped hide them, and what life was like for everyone after the war ended.
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