Ms. Franklin has done a wonderful thing here. While giving an analysis of the obliterating phenomenon of Anne, she continually points back to the real-life girl in a way that feels fresh and persuasive. . . . [ Her] technique . . . gives verve and texture to this fine book.Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal
With sensitivity and assiduous research, [ Franklin] constructs a vivid cultural history that advocates for a reevaluation of Frank, not as a symbol or a saint but as a human being and a literary artist.New Yorker, Best Books We Read This Week
Clearly and powerfully told. . . . One of the best accounts of the many livesand afterlivesof Anne Frank.David Herman, Times Literary Supplement
Humane, generous . . . a rare combination of lightness and equanimity. . . . It is unusual for a book to have a companion as faithful and elegant as the one Franks diary finds here. Franklin has performed an invaluable serviceor, to put it another way, a mitzvah.Alexander Nazaryan, Los Angeles Times
Trenchant. . . . An essential look at the diarists legacy.Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A book that should be read and discussed for generations. . . . Read this book. You wont regret it.John Warner, Chicago Tribune
Superb and subtle. . . Franklin writes with enormous intelligence about the many cultural products that have grown from Annes legacy, and, just as importantly, she gives us a human, sympathetic and honest picture of the girl herself.Bart van Es, The Spectator
Shortlisted for the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize, sponsored by Yeshiva University
With comprehensive research and stunning clarity of thought, Ruth Franklin has peeled back all the layers that lie between life and art, memory and history, icon and human being. This tour de force sets the standard for anyone thinking about Anne Frank for years to come.Dara Horn, author of People Love Dead Jews
This brilliant, meticulously researched, and deeply engaging portrait of Anne Frank is more than a biographyit is cultural history, investigative journalism, literary criticism, and, ultimately, a moving, clear-eyed tribute. A triumph.Heather Clark, author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
Ruth Franklin meets Anne Frank incisively on her own terms, first and foremost as a writer. She executes a difficult balancing act with subtlety, returning the diary to its context while also amplifying the voice of its author.Stacy Schiff, author of The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
With great narrative feeling, Franklin brings to life not only Anne but the entire canvas of her life, deepening our understanding of her, her legacy, and the times she lived in. Anyone who has read the diary will be fascinated and edified by this stirring, important companion biography.Sheila Heti, author of Alphabetical Diaries
