Yes, I read a lot of books!  Due to being a book reviewer, as well as, an avid book lover on the side, I read lots.  TONS!  I have managed to find several books this year that have been stunning.  And now I have found a book that is also transformative.  The dictionary tells me that is not a word, so be it.  “Margot” by Jillian Cantor is absolutely that–transformative.

Cantor has skillfully taken “The Diary of Anne Frank” and introduced the reader to Anne’s sister, Margot Frank.  Margot escapes to Philadelphia and becomes Margie Franklin (even though history tells us she died in Bergen-Belsen).  Peter,the boy she loved at seventeen and who lived in the annex with her,  decided that when WWII was over, they would move to Philadelphia and lose “their Jewishness”.    Margie believes Peter is dead but has a faint glimmer of hope that maybe he survived, also.

Margie works as a secretary in a Jewish law firm.  She does everything to hide her Jewishness including wearing a sweater no matter how hot the temperatures reach, in order to hide her numbered tattoo that she received in the Nazi camp.  She practices her religion (or ritual of religion) on Friday nights and rests on the Sabbath.  Margie is constantly “tested” as she works for a Jewish lawyer, Joshua.  Joshua asks her for help during a case dealing with the unfair treatment of Jews.  Joshua becomes a representation of Peter in many ways.

Margie “needs to be whole again” and faces many crossroads as she remembers the past, sees her sister’s story on the big screen and dreams of the future.  Pick up this book.  Read it!  You will never be the same again.