Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife

“Prose’s book is a stunning achievement. . . . Now Anne Frank stands before us. . . a figure who will live not only in history but also in the literature she aspired to create.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

In June, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. For two years, she described life in hiding in vivid, unforgettable detail and grappled with the unfolding events of World War II. Before the attic was raided in August, 1944, Anne Frank furiously revised and edited her work, crafting a piece of literature that she hoped would be read by the public after the war. And read it has been.

In Anne Frank, bestselling author Francine Prose deftly parses the artistry, ambition, and enduring influence of Anne Frank’s beloved classic, The Diary of a Young Girl. She investigates the diary’s unique afterlife: the obstacles and criticism Otto Frank faced in publishing his daughter’s words; the controversy surrounding the diary’s Broadway and film adaptations, and the social mores of the 1950s that reduced it to a tale of adolescent angst and love; the conspiracy theories that have cried fraud, and the scientific analysis that proved them wrong. Finally, having assigned the book to her own students, Prose considers the rewards and challenges of teaching one of the world’s most read, and banned, books. How has the life and death of one girl become emblematic of the lives and deaths of so many, and why do her words continue to inspire?

Approved by both the Anne Frank House Foundation in Amsterdam and the Anne Frank-Fonds in Basel, run by the Frank family, Anne Frank unravels the fascinating story of a memoir that has become one of the most compelling, intimate, and important documents of modern history.

• A Conscious Artist: Go beyond the myth of the innocent diarist and discover Anne Frank as an ambitious young writer who furiously revised her work, consciously crafting a timeless piece of literature.
• The Battle for the Diary: Delve into the diary's unique afterlife, from Otto Frank's struggles to get it published to the controversial Broadway and film adaptations that shaped its public perception.
• Separating Fact from Fiction: Follow Prose as she investigates the conspiracy theories that have tried to discredit the diary and examines the definitive scientific analysis that proved them wrong.
• A Guide for Readers and Teachers: Explore the rewards and challenges of reading and teaching one of the world’s most banned books, and understand its enduring power in the classroom and beyond.

In June 1942, Anne Frank received a red-and-white-checked diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding in an Amsterdam attic to escape the Nazis. For two years, with ever-increasing maturity, Anne crafted a memoir that has become one of the most compelling documents of modern history. But Anne Frank's diary, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as it is a historical record. Through close reading, she marvels at the teenage Frank's skillfully natural narrative voice, at her finely tuned dialogue and ability to turn living people into characters.

Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife tells the extraordinary story of the book that became a force in the world. Along the way, Prose definitively establishes that Anne Frank was not an accidental author or a casual teenage chronicler but a writer of prodigious talent and ambition.

“Prose takes the 21st-century reader deep inside Anne’s annex and invaded city, into the minds of those who have since laid claim to her legend, and into the heart of this committed young writer whose creative spirit lives on.” - O Magazine

“A lively and illuminating disquisition....an impressively far-reaching critical work, an elegant study both edifying and entertaining. In a book full of keen observations and fascinating disputes...Ms. Prose looks in all directions to find noteworthy material. . . . This is a Grade A example of what a smart, precise and impassioned teacher can do.” - Janet Maslin, New York Times

“An impressively far-reaching critical work, an elegant study both edifying and entertaining. . . full of keen observations and fascinating disputes.” - New York Times

“Francine Prose. . . takes Anne’s story and adds to it a new perspective. . . . Prose tells this story with tremendous beauty, pathos and a profound awareness of tragic coincidence.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Compelling. . . . With compassion and grace, Prose looks at Anne Frank as Anne wished to be seen: above all, as a writer.” - Christian Science Monitor

“Impassioned. . . compelling. . . . No one has made the case as convincingly and forcefully as Francine Prose does that Anne Frank aspired to be taken seriously as a writer—and should be.” - San Diego Union-Tribune

“Most importantly, Prose takes Anne Frank seriously as a writer, applying her crystalline critical insight to the work itself...[Prose gives] us the fullest sense of what Anne Frank was like—with contagious enthusiasm.” - Marion Winik, Newsday

“A fascinating book...riveting to read...” - Anne Roiphe, Moment Magazine

“Provocative.... A penetrating analysis.” - Los Angeles Times

“A deeply felt reappraisal of the work and its global impact.... [Prose] makes a persuasive argument for Anne Frank’s literary genius.” - New York Times Book Review

“A valuable resource…useful and well-written and –researched” - Philadelphia Inquirer

“Passionate…A sensitive, beautifully written and fascinating account of the myriad aspects of Anne Frank’s life, death and diary” - Haaretz (Israel)

“Illuminating. . . . A compelling story…Francine Prose explains some of the many sides of this remarkable story.” - Washington Post

“Talented author Francine Prose approaches Anne Frank with the awe and respect of one writer for another…Prose’s research uncovers what many will be surprised to discover.” - Jerusalem Post

“Prose is clear-headed, tough, and fair, and her book, though in places immensely sad, is superb. It should be cherished alongside the masterpiece that inspired it.” - Boston Sunday Globe

“Prose’s book is a stunning achievement. . . . Now Anne Frank stands before us. . . a figure who will live not only in history but also in the literature she aspired to create.” - Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Substantially researched and wide-ranging…This probing and informed book introduces readers to a far more complex and accomplished young woman than the Anne we met in our adolescence.” - Jewish Book World

“Prose is commanding and illuminating...definitive, deeply moving inquiry into the life of the young, imperiled artist.... Extraordinary testimony to the power of literature and compassion.” - Booklist (starred review)

“This is an amazing book…thorough, thoughtfully, beautifully written…[It] focuses on Anne Frank as an accomplished writer…I was thrilled to find it.” - Miami Herald

“Provocative. . . penetrating. . . . Prose means to remove Frank from the wistful amber of her posthumous celebrity and reveal her to us in a more realistic light.” - Los Angeles Times

“Prose admirably recreates the events in the attic over the years—no small feat—[with] all the drama of a classic whodunit…Transcendent criticism…[A] case so brilliantly proven.” - Chicago Tribune