The Many Lives of Anne Frank

“Ms. Franklin has done a wonderful thing here. While giving an analysis of the obliterating phenomenon of ‘Anne,’ she continually points back to the real-life girl in a way that feels fresh and persuasive… . [Her] technique … gives verve and texture to this fine book.”—Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal

“With sensitivity and assiduous research, [Franklin] constructs a vivid cultural history that advocates for a reevaluation of Frank, not as a symbol or a saint but as a human being and a literary artist.”—New Yorker, “Best Books of the Year”

“Clearly and powerfully told… . One of the best accounts of the many lives—and afterlives—of Anne Frank.”—David Herman, Times Literary Supplement

“Humane, generous … a rare combination of lightness and equanimity… . It is unusual for a book to have a companion as faithful and elegant as the one Frank’s diary finds here. Franklin has performed an invaluable service—or, to put it another way, a mitzvah.”—Alexander Nazaryan, Los Angeles Times

Shortlisted for the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize, sponsored by Yeshiva University

Received an honorable mention from the Sophie Brody Medal, sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA)

Longlisted for the 2026 Plutarch Awards, sponsored by the BIO

Finalist for the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, biography category

“With comprehensive research and stunning clarity of thought, Ruth Franklin has peeled back all the layers that lie between life and art, memory and history, icon and human being. This tour de force sets the standard for anyone thinking about Anne Frank for years to come.”—Dara Horn, author of People Love Dead Jews

“This brilliant, meticulously researched, and deeply engaging portrait of Anne Frank is more than a biography—it is cultural history, investigative journalism, literary criticism, and, ultimately, a moving, clear-eyed tribute. A triumph.”—Heather Clark, author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

“Ruth Franklin meets Anne Frank incisively on her own terms, first and foremost as a writer. She executes a difficult balancing act with subtlety, returning the diary to its context while also amplifying the voice of its author.”—Stacy Schiff, author of The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

“With great narrative feeling, Franklin brings to life not only Anne but the entire canvas of her life, deepening our understanding of her, her legacy, and the times she lived in. Anyone who has read the diary will be fascinated and edified by this stirring, important companion biography.”—Sheila Heti, author of Alphabetical Diaries

Ruth Franklin is the author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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