When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

by Alice Hoffman

Anne believed in faith and loyalty, she believed that people got what they deserved, but who deserved what was happening now? People were shoving to get closer to the vegetable bins. There were carrots today that were worth quarreling over. Two women were discussing who had been there first in loud voices until it wasn’t a discussion at all, and one pushed the other. Anne wished she could disappear. She wished she could close her eyes and that when she opened them again she’d be in another country. She’d be so far away no one could find her. She could not bear to think life would be no more than it was. Fighting for vegetables. Not looking at rats. She kept her head tilted so no one would know how lost she felt inside. “Can you pay attention to me when I speak?” Edith said to Anne. “There’s something in my eye,” Anne told her mother. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it could have been. “Let me see.” Edith came toward her and took Anne’s chin in her hand so that she could look into her daughter’s eyes. She’d once thought it was possible to change your fate; even if you were in an unhappy marriage, you could do your best and bring happiness into each day in some small way. Now she didn’t know what she believed anymore. “Are you crying?” Edith asked, surprised when she saw the tears in Anne’s eyes. Her brave daughter who did as she pleased and thought she was special. What had made her cry? They were merely buying vegetables. “No,” Anne was quick to answer as she wrenched awa...