Back-Story: I was fortunate enough to win this book off of Goodreads First Reads. It came within a few weeks which surprised me because the other book I’ve won took eight weeks.
Review: Fantastic. Incredible. Amazing. Intriguing. These are words I would use to describe this book. It is completely fictional, but it kind of feels like it could be true. Like maybe Margot didn’t die at Bergen-Belsen. Maybe she lived and moved to America and started a new life. That’s what this book is about. It shows you what could have happened instead of what did happen. Margot is a character that we don’t know much about. We always hear about Anne and Meip Geis and even Anne and Margot’s father Otto Frank, the only one to survive. Jillian Cantor shows us the possibilities of what could have happened had Margot lived. Margot, now known in America as Margie Franklin, works for a Jewish law firm and is in love with her boss. She hides it from everyone and kind of denies it herself believing that she is still in love with Peter. Margie hides her true identity from everyone, even wearing sweaters in the heat of summer to cover up her tattoo from the concentration camp. While in America Margie learns that her father is alive and married to another woman and he has published Anne’s diary which is now the biggest rage and has even turned into a movie. Margie has to cope with the book, the movie, and the belief that Peter might still be alive all the while helping out Jewish men and women that have survived the concentration camps. The book goes on with Margie’s struggles and how she copes with her past and accepts her future.
Looks: The cover is okay. It shows the decade which lets you know what era it’s set in, but what I don’t understand is the little girl on the right side. Is that supposed to be Anne? Is it supposed to be Margot when she was younger? I don’t see how the little girl could be either of them because the little girl’s hair is blonde and we know that both Anne and Margot had dark hair. What I’m going to assume is that the woman on the left is Margot in America and the little girl on the right is Margot in Germany. (Which really doesn’t make sense either because the little girl would still be too young to be Margot.)
Likes: The book is well written and is a page turner. Not once was I ever bored and waiting to get to an interesting part. The book held my interest the whole time and the author has made it as historically correct as she could to make it fit her story. I think Jillian Cantor has done a great job in creating this story and all its characters. She does well in doing the flashbacks from the Annex and the camps to what is presently happening. She does well capturing Margot mourning her sister and mother, her apprehension towards her father, her fear of being found out, and her avoidance towards the book and movie.
Dislikes: *SPOILER ALERT* I can’t really say that this is a dislike. It’s more of an ‘If I were the author I would have done this instead of this’. The very ending is Margie saying her real name, revealing who she really is. Then it’s the end. If I were the one writing the book I would have shown the reactions between Margie and who she reveals her true identity too. I, as the reader, would have liked to see what happened after saying “My real name is Margot.” Again, this isn’t really a dislike it’s just what I think should have been done instead.
Overall: As I’ve said before this is a great book. It’s never boring and is not something you’ll put down easily. I definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I am very, very glad to have won this book. I love it so much that I’d be willing to buy another copy just to buy it.
