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Margot is an absorbing "what-if?" story about Margot Frank, the lesser known older sister of Anne Frank, the diarist. What if Margot survived the war, instead of dying of typhus fever at Bergen-Belsen as we had been told?
In this version of Margot's story, she had managed to escape, and now - more than 10 years later - she lives in Philadelphia as Margie Franklin, a Polish Gentile. Margie lives two lives - by day she works as a legal secretary, working hard to hide her Jewish past; while by night she can't stop re-living her teenage years, hiding in the annex and in the concentration camps afterwards. The release of the film version of Diary of Anne Frank, and her growing professional and emotional connection with her boss, a young Jewish lawyer, allow Margie to finally let go of her past and start to live in the present fully.
Despite the 1950s setting -when Margot/Margie is supposedly in her early 30s - the story reads like YA, and, like many YA stories, has themes of identity and belonging at its core. (And I have no hesitation in recommending this book to teens.) Her internal monologues are full of angst and love and grief and sibling rivalry, and it is easy to imagine that her emotional life had died / become frozen when she was 17, and her family was discovered in the annex. Margo / Margie's decision to accept her Jewish identity and "live her true self" is the key to moving on and letting go of her past.
Showing deep respect for the Diary of Anne Frank, this book concludes with an interesting author's note, where she separates the fact from the fiction in this story.
In this version of Margot's story, she had managed to escape, and now - more than 10 years later - she lives in Philadelphia as Margie Franklin, a Polish Gentile. Margie lives two lives - by day she works as a legal secretary, working hard to hide her Jewish past; while by night she can't stop re-living her teenage years, hiding in the annex and in the concentration camps afterwards. The release of the film version of Diary of Anne Frank, and her growing professional and emotional connection with her boss, a young Jewish lawyer, allow Margie to finally let go of her past and start to live in the present fully.
Despite the 1950s setting -when Margot/Margie is supposedly in her early 30s - the story reads like YA, and, like many YA stories, has themes of identity and belonging at its core. (And I have no hesitation in recommending this book to teens.) Her internal monologues are full of angst and love and grief and sibling rivalry, and it is easy to imagine that her emotional life had died / become frozen when she was 17, and her family was discovered in the annex. Margo / Margie's decision to accept her Jewish identity and "live her true self" is the key to moving on and letting go of her past.
Showing deep respect for the Diary of Anne Frank, this book concludes with an interesting author's note, where she separates the fact from the fiction in this story.