Annelies: A Novel

I adored David R. Gillham’s previous novel, which meant I had high expectations for his latest body of work even though I worried about his subject matter. Anne Frank is so well-loved, and sometimes, it is better to let the dead rest in peace rather than revise history no matter how much we want it to be true. It turns out that my worries were for naught because Annelies is an outstanding novel. Mr. Gillham’s diligent research pays off in a story that is sensitive, thought-provoking, and faithful. Through our familiarity with the Frank family and their travails during the war, we better understand the trauma – mental, physical, emotional, social – the Holocaust survivors experienced because we see it play out in this version of show more Anne. Watching the survivors rebuild their lives, as well as watching them deal with their grief and their guilt, is not easy, and I had to take reading breaks because the story is emotionally dense. I would reread it in a heartbeat because Mr. Gillham does such an excellent job making readers feel the enormous range of emotions Anne feels upon her release from the camps and does so while creating an imaginary future for Anne that fits what we know of her through her diary. I cannot recommend Annelies highly enough. show less

Although I was touched when I read A Diary of a Young Girl and wished Anne's fate had been different, I wasn't sure that alternate history was a good fit for me. As it turned out, this book really moved me. It was a powerful, accurate portrayal of grief, how it can consume and transform, how it can tear apart family and loved ones who grieve differently, but how it can eventually be overcome.

The first hundred pages of the book covered key moments in Anne's life before the Annex, while in hiding, and in the camps. The author used these pages effectively, letting us see Anne as the optimistic dreamer she had been, thus showing how utterly affected Anne was by her experience in the camps. This helped me be sympathetic later when she spoke show more out angrily and hurtfully: I could see that she was letting grief overwhelm her thoughts and feelings. It was also interesting and heartbreaking to see the external hardships the Jews had to deal with as they attempted to return to normal lives.

Thank you Goodreads for the ARC! show less

A powerful and deeply humane new novel that asks the question: What if Anne Frank survived the Holocaust?

The year is 1945, and Anne Frank is sixteen years old. Having survived the concentration camps, but lost her mother and sister, she reunites with her father, Pim, in newly liberated Amsterdam. But it’s not as easy to fit the pieces of their life back together. Anne is adrift, haunted by the ghosts of the horrors they experienced, while Pim is fixated on returning to normalcy. Her beloved diary has been lost, and her dreams of becoming a writer seem distant and pointless now.

A retelling of the true story of Anne Frank, Annelies provides the reader with an ending showing what life for Anne might have been like if she had survived the Holocaust. With excerpts from her actual diary interspersed throughout the story, the novel gives a glimpse of the young Anne as she grieves over the deaths of her loved ones and comes to terms with the ravages of war, both on herself and those she loves.

I absolutely loved the author’s style of writing in this novel. The depth in which he creates Anne’s world for the reader is phenomenal. The characters were so detailed that it was easy to feel all of their emotions along with them.

I will say I felt odd as I read the book. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the author show more rewriting history, even while it will be known as fiction. Anne Frank’s story is so powerful because of how heartbreaking the real life ending is compared to how full of life and energy her personality is in her diary. The book is exceptional, but I just can’t feel differently about this point. Overall, a good read but should be carefully thought about while reading.

Thank you to Penguin First to Read for providing an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Every once in awhile, a book comes along that just takes your breath away...a book that you wish you could give more than five stars...a book that speaks to your deepest feelings. For me. Annelies is one of those rare books. It is so beautifully written that I lived the book with the characters, I felt Anne's pain as well as her anger and confusion after the war. I think its because I read The Diary of Anne Frank at a very impressionable age when it was difficult to read that she had died in the camps. Annelies is based on the premise that Anne survived and is reconciled with her father in Amsterdam after the war. All of the pain from the camps leads to great anger and survivor's guilt when she tries to regain her old life.

I must admit show more that I cried a lot of tears while reading this book. Anne's time in the camps was so physically demeaning and her anger and confusion after the war were so mentally harsh. This was a beautiful, well written and well re-searched novel. Suspend your knowledge that you know Anne didn't survive and read this author's story about what her life could have been like -- you'll be glad that you did.

Thanks to First to Read for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own show less

Anne Frank has always been of interest, and Mr. Gillham creates a heartbreaking re-telling of what she and her family endured and what her life could have been had she survived.

We follow Anne before, during, and after the war that describes her family's confinement and the horrors they endured at the concentration camps.

Mr. Gillham brings Anne back to life and fictitiously lets us see how she is trying to put her life back together as she reunites with her father who in actuality is the only surviving family member.

The detailed writing and re-telling will hold your interest from the minute you begin reading.

This book is a tribute to all of those who suffered, survived, perished, and helped in any way possible during history's darkest show more hours.

Mr. Gillham did an outstanding job of researching as well as using a creative method of portraying Anne Frank's life as it may have been even though she did not survive the Holocaust.

Through Mr. Gillham’s marvelous writing style we are transported back in time as we experience what Anne experienced during her captivity and as she tries to re-enter her previous life that is always filled with the presence and reminders of her captors and how she had to comply.

ANNELIES is a beautiful, heartfelt book you will want to absorb with attention to every detail.

Anne seems as though she was and would have been a feisty young lady that the world has missed and could have learned from. 5/5

This book was given to me as ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review. show less

Well, I finished reading ANNALIES by David R. Gilliam. Very well written but also disappointing. It is the story (fiction,of course) of what would have happened it Anne Frank lived. The girl that was once so hopeful for mankind, that thought there was still good in the world, despite what was happening, turned into a hateful......well.....witch with a B. Whatever relationship she had with her dad before they were discovered in the Secret Annex, was gone when she returned to Amsterdam. She was rude and disrespectful to him, far far worse than she ever imagined to be to her mother. That is NOT the Anne Frank I pictured had she lived.