The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank - Ellen Feldman

'The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank' is a truly heart-warming novel that asks the reader to think about the power of stories, the meaning of history and the possibility of coming to terms with an unbearable burden of memory. The novel reflects on what might have happened if the boy in hiding with Anne Frank, Peter Van Pels, had survived the war and tells the tale of what might have happened. The story is written with delicacy and intimacy and tells the compelling story of how Peter, leaving behind the ghosts of Europe, has reinvented himself in America, married and raised a family. The future at this point for Peter is all that matters, the past to him ...  Read the complete review

must have been around 12 or 13 years old when I've read Anne Franks Diaries for the first time and ever since, when a new book about Anne or everything else that had to do with the secret annex and his inhabitants appeared on the market I had to read it. Still I wasn't too sure about this one first, as it is purely fictional and therefore somewhat different to all the other books I've read before. The hero of the book is Peter van Pels and if this name doesn't ring any bells then it is so for a reason: Unbeknown to many readers Anne Frank has changed the names of the other people who lived with her during her time in the Hinterhaus. The family van ...  Read the complete review

To review this book I feel I must first mention a little about the story behind the book as it having a basic understanding of the true story makes the book make more sense. Most people are aware of the story of Anne Frank but for those who don't here is a brief history. Anne Frank was a 13 year old Jewish girl living in Amsterdam during the German occupation. During this time her and her family along with four others went into hiding in a secret annexe above her fathers office. They hid here for 25 months but were betrayed to the Nazis, arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps, Anne died of typhus 9 months later at the age of 15. During her time in hiding she ...  Read the complete review