WHEN WE FLEW AWAY: A NOVEL OF ANNE FRANK BEFORE THE DIARY
- Sarah
- Oct 11
- 2 min read

WHEN WE FLEW AWAY by Alice Hoffman
When We Flew Away is the extremely moving HISTORICAL FICTION recounting of the days of the Frank family, especially Anne, leading up to the point where they go into hiding. It is very difficult to put confetti emojis around the words "TOP PICK" when referencing this book. Hoffman does a brilliant job engaging us with the writing, but the tragedy of the story itself makes it extremely hard to put any type of celebratory pictures on the same page with this book.
Telling the story of the Frank family, with a focus in Anne, When We Flew Away takes us into the heart of Amsterdam where many of the Jewish community believed they were safe from the reaches of Hitler and the Nazi Regime. Little by little the infiltration started until, the homes they loved and the hope they had were smashed into unrecognizable pieces.
Most of us are familiar with Anne Frank and her story. Most of us grew up with the haunting pages of her diary published into the book, The Diary of a Young Girl. Author Alice Hoffman was one such twelve-year-old girl. Growing up in a Jewish family that opted to try and leave the past in the past with regards to the Holocaust and look ahead to new life and opportunities, Hoffman stumbled on the book at a book fair, and it impacted her in such a way that as an adult, she penned the book I am talking to you about today.
There are two things that are important to remember about this book. 1) It is historical fiction. The conversations and some of the experiences are built into this story. Alice Hoffman addresses that in a lengthy Author's Notes section at the end of the book. However, 2) there is a lot of value to understanding the atmosphere of what was happening during this time in history. The Netherlands were being invaded by the Nazis. They single handedly demolished the relationships that had stood for years between the Jewish and non Jewish community. Up until that point, there was no reason to have any type of division. People lived as neighbors going about their daily lives until this cancerous ideology invaded their land. Think of it as bringing the same type of value that Lois Lowery's fantastic book, Number the Stars, does.
HEADS UP- obviously, When We Flew Away deals with the atrocities that the Jewish people faced during WWII. While not graphically gruesome in nature, there is no doubt about the circumstances that are going on.