Decently interesting, but the writer chickens out in the end and (SPOILER) has the boy who was never going to admit he was Jewish admit he was Jewish. Kind of defeats the purpose of writing the book, now doesn't it? We've all seen Schindler's List and so we're not in need of any more sappy endings that are sad yet inspiring. The psychology of the character in the first half of the novel is interesting, interesting enough for me to keep reading and for me to give this a few stars, but not enough for me to feel this was a book that needed to have been written, that really captured another way of seeing things. I guess that's how it goes with concept books, though; they always look better than they are. I mean, how can you pass up such a great, slightly gothic-sounding title as "The Man Who Loved Anne Frank." Do it, pass it up, if you can.

‘The Boy who loved Anne Frank’ tells the story of Peter van pels, also known as Peter van Daan in ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and what if he had survived the war. The story begins with Peter seeing a doctor because he has lost his voice, he does not understand why he has lost his voice but as the story progresses you find out why, as hard as he tries to forget, Peter cannot leave his time in annexe in the past, his experiences following his liberation. Peter struggles with himself, he hides his true self, he will not speak to his wife, as time goes on, the situation becomes worse for Peter, as ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is released, then to the stage show and finally, the film, Peter begins to question his past, and begins to face it.

I had a lot of sympathy for Peter, he was so unhappy, angry, he misses his parents, in some ways he has lost his identify, at times, I wished that Peter would speak to his wife, tell her who he was.

I found this book to be very insightful, a lot of research has went into the reactions regards Anne’s diary, the questions raised towards Otto Frank, the family of Fritz Pfeffer, it showed that there is more to the members of the annexe, the lost of so many lives, the ripple effect of loss and the questions raised from it. I found at times the questions concerning Anne where slightly unfair, the people who complained and found problems seem to forget that she was a teenager in unusual circumstances.

I looked forward to reading this book, but I just couldn't finish it. The main character of Peter was just unconvincing and well, ordinary (which might have been the point I guess). He had such an incredible story to tell and it just was never told.

i loved the idea behind this story but then it didn't quite read as well i i thought it would.
A good book, but not a great book. I wanted to hear more about Anne i guess and of course the book was more about the future and Peter living his life now, trying to forget the past but then because of the publishing of Anne's diaries being forced to confront his life in the secret annexe all over again. but still i felt that Anne was pushed away and forgotten within this story.

What would it have been like to have been hidden in that annex in Amsterdam, discovered, sent to a concentration camp, survived, and had the opportunity to reinvent oneself? If Peter did survive — how DO you reinvent yourself when you try to forget — to keep your past hidden — yet cannot let it go no matter how hard you try? Can you escape your past?

“The reader will reflect not only on the ‘what-if’...but also on the making of identity and the inescapable power of the past.” (From the book jacket)

Based on the supposition of "What if Peter had lived and actually fulfilled his promise to Anne Frank...if I ever get out of here, I will never be a Jew again." This book was compelling and heartbreaking. Fictional Peter has successfully emigrated to America and made a wonderful life for himself. He is married to a supportive woman. He is successful in business. He has two sweet daughters. But he is in complete denial about his past. Then one night he sees his wife reading a book next to him in bed called "The story of a young girl" and the next day he wakes up with no voice.

This is the imagined story of Peter van Daan if he had survived the Holocaust. The story follows Peter after he comes to America to start a new life as a non-Jew, something the real Peter told Anne Frank he would do if he survived. Despite his attempts to put his past behind him, Peter cannot escape the horrors of what he endured. The author fluidly weaves the history of the publication of the diary, the subsequent play, and movie and the controversies surrounding them with Peter's fabricated story. By having Peter share little of the nature of his relationship with Anne, Feldman has added to the Anne Frank legacy without tarnishing it.

Si tienes una idea romántica de Peter Van Daan porque leíste a Anna de adolescente y quieres mantenerlo de esa forma para la posteridad este libro no es para ti. Claro que eso te convertiría en el tipo de personas que crítica este libro.

Una perspectiva imaginaria de lo que hubiese sido la vida de Peter de haber sobrevivido, enfocada en la idea que es tenía de querer que nadie supiera que fuera judío pues su situación lo rebasó tanto que oculto todo lo que él era y que cuando se público el diario varias veces estuvo a punto de colapsar.

Es interesante y sigue la linea crítica de La Decisión de Sophie en el sentido de la molestia que les género, tanto a Sophie como a Peter, de que los americanos les guste el sufrimiento gratuito o se sientan moralmente identificados con una situación que no vivieron.

Makes you wonder, what if....

So many stories about the Holocaust center on surviving the camps. This is one about surviving afterwards. How does one move on after being subjected to and witness to such atrocities, in the quest to reinvent oneself and to find security, love, and perhaps happiness? How does one shed the guilt and shame of survival? How can one find a new identity and forge a new life without obliterating the delicate shards that remain of the past, because without the past, who are we? The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank is a fictional account of what might have happened to Peter, had he lived, and it is beautifully rendered.

Hace tiempo tenía este libro en los pendientes, apenas se me hizo poder leerlo, al principio me costó, esperaba que la historia iniciara de lleno con el conflicto que le generaría a Peter la publicación del diario de Ana, pero no fue así, la historia se toma su tiempo para llegar a ese climax.

A medida que avanza el libro te vas dando cuenta que no es una historia sobre Peter y Ana, es sobre Peter y su vida después de lo que vivió.

Es una historia que bien por momentos te parece real, te olvidas de que Peter no sobrevivió y crees que él realmente lo logró, logró dejar atrás el horror de la guerra.

Another historical fiction novel by an author I have been enjoying. This one plots the life of Peter, the boy who was in hiding with Anne Frank during WW II. This is a "what if" story as the real Peter died in a camp, but this is how his life might have been had he escaped and come to America. It was an interesting insight into the horrible aftermath of the war in the life of those who survived. The Peter in the story was haunted by dreams and memories as he makes the effort to make a life keeping the secret of who he really is. Coming upon the book, The Diary of Anne Frank, the play and movie that came after, he is torn between his past and the life that he has created.