Book Review: Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Description (taken from the inside book jacket) :

Everyone knows about Anne Frank, and her life hidden in the secret annexe - or do they? Peter van Pels and his family are locked away with the Franks too, and Peter sees it all differently. What is it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, to hate her and then find yourself falling in love with her? To know you're being written about in her diary, day after day? And, what's it like to sit and wait and watch whilst others die, and you wish you were fighting? Anne's diary ends on August 4 1944, but Peter's story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion, the reality of day to day survival in Auschwitz - and the terrible conclusion.

My review and thoughts

I love Anne Frank and I've read her diary twice now but not since two years ago and also done a very long school project on her life. So, the premise of Annexed really interested me since I've always wondered what Peter may have felt during the time in the annexe and his feelings towards Anne.

Sharon Dogar has kept everything just as described in Anne's diary but explored Peter's feelings sensitively. Through her writing we are let into Peter's intimate thoughts and feelings that we have no proof existed but it is done respectfully.  The writing isn't complicated  but clear and filled with emotion that seems so plausible to the realities of Peter's thoughts.  It isn't only Peter's feelings about being shut away from the world in the annexe and his frustration that are captured but also the normal thoughts and struggles of a typical teenage boy from doubts about who he is and his self image to worries about girls. It is very hard for teenagers to go through these feelings and stages in a normal situation but to be stuck in one place with the same people during key years of growing up is just so hard to imagine but this is portrayed well.

Despite some controversy about the 'sexulisation' of Anne and Peter's relationship, I think the scenes where they are together are the honest portrayal of how the author imagines they happen.  For me, there was too much focus on Peter's lust, which I felt was very unnecessary and spoiled the other mix of other poignant emotions. I think more emphasis on his fears and other aspects of life in hiding would have made a better impression on me.

The last third of the book, where Peter is fighting for his life in a concentration camp is very harrowing. The fact that Anne, Peter and their family were on the last train to Auschwitz from Holland is just so tragic. After the build up of finding out what Peter hopes and longs for, the tragedy of his situation is just so moving. It is a real reminder of the horrific evils of the Holocaust and how it is not just a historical  event but something that happened to real people and destroyed lives.

I thought that the almost poetic way that the book was told with numerous flash forwards to his time in the concentration camp (or rather the whole novel is a flash back and those are flash forwards) was very effective and original.

Verdict: Annexed is a very interesting and thoughts provoking book that made me want to read Anne's diary again. It is really worth reading but one I couldn't see myself reading it again. I would recommend that people read Annexed only if they have read Anne Frank's diary before as otherwise it may be difficult to understand about the other occupants of the Annexe as they are not really introduced.