Review Detail

I first read the blurb of MARGOT in a recent issue of PEOPLE magazine. The whole premise of 'What if' the older sister of Anne Frank survived, intrigued me. All I knew was I had to read this book.

What worked for me was the amazing writing that layered in the story of Margie Franklin who is living in Philadelphia during the later 1950s. She's a secretary at a Jewish law firm with a huge secret that she hides under a sweater she wears year round. Readers get a glimpse of what might have happened if Margot, the older sister of Anne Frank had in fact lived. She's shown here not so much as a victim but someone fleeing her horrific past and having a secret hope that Peter is in fact alive too. We find that not only Anne but Margot kept a diary too. Woven throughout are revelations that have Margot second guessing what her relationship with Peter really was.

There is so much to love about this story. Readers feel the horror of the war, the time Margot spent in the Annex with her family(we see that maybe it wasn't Anne who was in love with Peter but rather Margot), and the pain of living a lie. I felt the emotions were raw and so intense. I felt for Margot. The backstory is woven in without slowing the pace of this highly engaging story. I really think it should be included in middle school and high school reading lists on the holocaust.

Emotionally beautiful retelling of the Anne Frank story seen through the eyes of what might have been if the older sister had lived to tell her story. Riveting with sharp contrasts between her life during the world and the burdensome secret she keeps from others. A must read!