A review by ravensandlace
Margot by Jillian Cantor

4.0

Title: Margot

Author: Jillian Cantor

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: ebook

Series: NA

Star Rating: 4 stars

tw: smoking, parental death, antisemitism, arson, holocaust horrors, infertility, cancer, survivors' guilt, flashbacks/PTSD, heart attack, infidelity ish (relationship is unclear)

The first book I read by Jillan Cantor was about Marie Curie, how her life was when she went to Paris, and how her life could have been if she had stayed in Poland. It’s called Half Life in case y'all wanted to check it out. It’s a great book. I was obsessed with that book, so I looked at Jillian Cantor’s backlist, to see what other books I could become obsessed with, and discovered this book. I knew I had to get my hands on it and boy was I glad. This was so good! 

This is about what might have happened if Margot Frank, Anne Frank’s sister, had survived the concentration camps. I’ve always wondered what would have happened. It makes me so sad that the sisters died only a couple of months before liberation. It’s something I always think about when I read Holocaust books or think about the Holocaust. Just really brings me down. 

This book made me so sad as well. It was clear that Margie, as she was called in the book, was struggling. She was dealing with survivor's guilt. Her sister’s dairy was found, published, and made into a movie so she saw her life in the annex all over the world. She couldn’t escape her past. And she was so closed up, she didn’t want to let anyone in. I just wanted to want her to open up to her loved ones. To let them in. I kept rooting for her and hoping that eventually she would open up.

This book was written like Anne Frank’s diary. It was very matter of fact with some emotion but not a lot. But it worked for Margie’s personality. She was very matter of fact and didn’t show much emotion until the end of the book. But I enjoyed that. It was lovely watching her grow in the end. This is one of those books where you want to read Anne Frank’s diary first. It’s not required but it will help you understand Margot a little bit better.  

Overall, I loved this book so much. In a way, it fulfilled my little dream of what would have happened if one of the Frank sisters had survived the Holocaust. Even though it was a sad book, it made my heart happy. It’s a story full of hope despite the loss Margot dealt with. She still fought to be happy and that’s all anyone can ask for.