Anne Frank

April 8, 2013
When she first read Anne Frank’s diary, Müller (Lost Lives, Lost Art) was 13, the same age as Anne was when she went into hiding. Before being sent to her death at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Anne spent 25 months furtively penning one of the most powerful documents of the Holocaust, but it was not until 1947 that her father, Otto, finally published his daughter’s work. Müller’s biography of the young girl and her at-once intimate and universal missives has also long been a work in progress. The book was originally published in 1998, but this expanded edition takes into account diary entries that had previously been redacted by Anne’s father, as well as recently discovered letters from Otto to relatives in the United States and unpublished documents provided to Müller during interviews with those who knew Anne and her family—including Miep Gies, one of those responsible for hiding the Franks and preserving the diary after its author had perished. In addition to fleshing out her subject, Müller investigates who was responsible for outing the family and what happened to Anne during the eight months between her last diary entry and her death at the age of 16. This nuanced and valuable supplement to Anne’s diary eschews idealization, providing a fuller picture of a vibrant, willful, and soul-searching young woman. 42 b&w photos & family trees.

May 15, 2013
Anne Frank, before and after the diary, with many new details and a fresh, welcome perspective. In this updated edition of her superb 1998 biography, Muller (Alice's Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, 2012) adds immeasurably to a well-known story, expanding on what the precocious young Anne Frank either didn't say or didn't know. Starting well before Anne's birth, the author shows how her father, Otto Frank, established successful businesses selling fruit extracts and wholesale goods and, with his wife Edith, managed for a while to raise a family despite the growing Nazi threat. Otto could deal with the Wehrmacht by supplying goods to the Nazis (he hardly had any choice) and by trying to "Aryanize" his businesses. Of course, it couldn't last, as the family would be forced to flee first to Amsterdam and then into the secret annex over one of Otto's businesses. They weren't alone; some 20,000 to 30,000 Jews in Holland "saw going into hiding as their only alternative to deportation." Muller illuminates the shadows of Anne's diary, particularly in casting the Franks' loveless arranged marriage, which Anne accurately saw through, in a sympathetic and understanding light. She adds dimension to Anne's picture of Edith, as well; the woman her daughter depicted as stern and cold was also trying desperately not to give in to despair. Muller likewise tells the full story behind Anne's roommate, Fritz Pfeffer. The stiff-necked, middle-aged doctor whom Anne referred to as "Dussel" (Dutch for "dope") also had no family support and feared for the safety of his fiancee and a son by a former marriage. Muller assesses Anne's shifting moods, growing sexual awareness and her dual nature: the impish extrovert and the deeply private young writer. She also assiduously researches the details of Anne's final days, as well as the fates of everyone else. An invaluable complement to an immortal testimony.

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May 15, 2013
In this important update to her landmark 1998 biography, Muller adds more essential little-known history that is sure to grab passionate readers of The Diary, with focus and commentary that will spark discussion, especially about the Frank family's connections with the U.S. Before the war, Otto Frank had spent time with wealthy financiers in New York City, including some who had strong ties to the government: So why did that not help Otto in his desperate drive to get his family visas to the U.S.? More questions still unanswered include who in Holland might have betrayed the fugitives in the attic? Of course, the young girl's personal life is still the focus, including her sexual awakening and her different relationship with each of her parents. And, always, the horrific Nazi brutality coming ever nearer. Muller fills in what happened after the arrests: the Allies at the door, the Franks on the last train to leave Holland for Westerbork and then Auschwitz, the fact that Anne did not know her final diary entry would be the last.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)