With her novel When We Flew Away, Alice Hoffman writes an emotionally stirring prequel to The Diary of Anne Frank. In this poignant piece, Hoffman reminds readers of the power of hope even when evil walks in the world. Even when it seems impossible to have hope, Anne Frank shows us that it is possible to be brave, to have dreams, and to live on in the words we have written or the record we leave behind.
Set in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 1940-1942, Hoffman’s book begins with Otto and Edith Frank wondering if their escape from Germany to the Netherlands with their two girls was a good choice. Although the Netherlands was a free nation and “one of the most tolerant countries in Europe with a long history of freedom and acceptance, having been neutral during the Great War” (40-41), the Frank’s faith in what is good is shaken by developments in Hitler’s reach, and they no longer feel safe when they are made to feel like outsiders again. “Hatred arises so quickly that one drop is all it takes before it spreads like ink on a page” (41).
Readers meet Anne and her sister Margot, who are as different as can be. Anne, who is always curious, questioning, and ambitious, has a wild imagination. Margot, on the other hand, is strikingly beautiful and obedient. A diligent student, kind-hearted and athletic, Margot is a valued member of the rowing team. More of a realist, Margot accuses her sister of being a dreamer. Anne realizes that “even if you were sisters, you could see the world in completely different ways. The here and now and the what could be” (8-9). With one foot in the future, Anne sees beyond what the eye detects. Anne is an “escape artist” who doesn’t intend to stay put and live the life everyone else thinks she should. She dreams of a life in California and envisions herself as an actress in Hollywood who eats chocolate cake and drinks champagne. Because of her energy and intensity, people are drawn to Anne.
So, when evil appears wearing heavy boots and thick jackets, Anne begins to doubt goodness. She learns what hate is and that monsters are real, not just wolves in the forest or in fairytales. Anne realizes that she cannot fight these demons and dangerous beasts with arrows or stones. Frightened now to go to sleep at night, eleven-year-old Anne dreams of ogres and imagines “men climbing through her window to steal her and her sister and carry them into the forest of bones, a place from which you never returned” (131). Having always been drawn to magpies, Anne begins to wish in earnest that she could fly away where no one could catch them.
Otto accesses every contact he can think of in an attempt to secure safety for his family. Even though he fears the worst amidst the madness unfolding, he reassures his girls that all will be fine. But as arrests, deportations, and other inhumane policies and practices take effect, even Otto has to admit that “the gates to random violence were thrown open. What happened once can happen again, even if you lock your doors, even if you’re honest and fair and have obeyed all the rules. Rules change” (107).
Readers further confront the sad reality that good and evil aren’t just concepts. “Good and evil breathed as if they were human; they . . . slipped under the door, they held you in an embrace or grabbed you by the throat, they comforted you or tore you apart” (149). Although Anne meets Helmut Silberburg, a young man who in another world might have been her beloved, she also comes to know the fear of hiding, the fear of being erased, the fear of never being remembered at all.
Readers will likely experience a sense of dis-ease while reading Hoffman’s book, but we also see resilience in the face of such ugliness. Many of us will share Otto’s and Anne’s belief in the power of laughter and the medicine of books. After all, “books are as important as food when it comes to nourishing a person” (225). When Anne reads, “the world opens up. The other world, where good people didn’t suffer, where magic was possible” (226).
Despite the cruel ending of Anne’s life at the age of fifteen, this book and her diary help readers to see that even when there is evil in the world, even when it is impossible to have hope, it is still possible to be brave and to have dreams.
- Donna