My Friend Anne Frank is astonishingly well-written. That should be said first. This is no paint-by-numbers ghostwritten autobiography. It's clear that the ghostwriter (a journalist) interviewed her subject in an engaged and thoughtful way. While the title suggests that the book is about Anne Frank, it's about Anne Frank only peripherally. Pick-Goslar was her close friend for a number of years during their childhood and they experienced many of the same things as German Jews living in the Netherlands. Pick-Goslar's recounting of those years is flawless, filled with specific, fascinating details about live in Amsterdam before and during the Nazis that I have not read anywhere else. Her account of Westerbork, the transit camp, is one of the finest you will read anywhere. Overall, it is a beautifully written book that tells the story of a fascinating life--and it would have been so even without Anne Frank. The occasional glimpses into Anne Frank's life are simply a bonus. My only criticism is that I would have liked more details about Pick-Goslar's later life including the decades spent on Israel. Those areas are touched on, but this is, overall, a Holocaust book. That is a good thing, but I'm personally devastated that Pick-Goslar passed away without being able to share a little bit more.

What a powerful read! Heartbreaking but captivating. I couldn't stop reading. What a beautiful soul. It's easier to see why she and Anne were such good friends. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.