Over-reaction or not?
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
As a young girl (early junior high days), one of the books that impacted me the most was “The Diary of Anne Frank”. I lived in my own little bubble and that glimpse into her world…well it rocked mine. (Though I must say, reading it as an adult lends a much different view than as a pre-teen) Now there is some hullabaloo over a new book coming out.
Sharon Dogar, an author of novels aimed at teens, is releasing “Annexed” in October of this year. It is a fictional tale focusing on Peter van Pels, the boy whose family hid with the Franks. The family is up in arms over Dogar’s portray of Anne, Peter and their relationship. The article indicates that their relationship was “sexed up” although it also states that the most controversial part (that Anne & Peter actually consummated their relationship) was removed.
On one hand I sympathize with the family. Frank has become a symbol of the indefatigable human spirit. Her name is practically synonymous with Jewish persecution during World War II. I admire her and her family. But overall, I feel the reaction to this fiction novel is a bit over the top. The fact is, Anne herself discusses sex on more than one occasion in her diary and is very open about how she feels. She experiences the same emotions and confusion of other 13-15 year old girl discovering herself and longing for independence but all while dealing with the fears of discovery and pressure of living in close quarters. If she and Peter DID have sex, I’m quit certain she would have vividly wrote about it. The fact that it’s not mentioned means either (a) it didn’t happen (my completely uneducated guess) or (b) it was excluded from publication. “Annexed” is obviously conjecture and speculation. There are plenty of historical fiction novels that take launch from what we know of real people. An author has the freedom to fill in the gaps of known history with whatever conjecture their imagination can provide.
I’m certainly not trying to downplay the tragedy of the Holocaust. But I just don’t get the impression that Dogar is trying to make light of the Van Pels’ and Franks’ shared history. Peter was a teenage boy locked up with teenage girls. I sincerely doubt his thoughts and feelings were entirely pure. Obviously we don’t know for sure how he experienced the reality he shared with Anne. But I think Dogar is highlighting the fact that there were other stories we didn’t get the privilege of hearing, that there were other amazing spirits snuffed out well before their time.
What do YOU think of this whole fracas? Will you read “Annexed”? I know I certainly will. If nothing else, this push back has just given the book more publicity than she could have ever bought.
