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

Structurally, the first two chapters accomplish several goals before the German invasion of the Netherlands occurs as the novel’s inciting incident in Chapter 3. First, the narrative introduces Anne and her close family as central characters based on historical individuals, and it mentions a peripheral “cast” of secondary true-life figures. Some secondary characters will play crucial roles in upcoming events, such as Otto Frank’s assistant Miep Santrouschitz, who will facilitate the Franks’ eventual plan to hide. Others create juxtaposition, such as influential businessman Nathan Straus Jr.; Straus is a Jewish businessman like Otto, but since he is in New York—where Otto, ironically, had the chance to remain—his life is not imperiled.

Second, the early chapters reveal why Otto and Edith chose Amsterdam as an escape from the Nazi regime (the Netherlands was neutral, taking no sides politically since World War I, and it had a centuries-old reputation of welcoming persecuted Jewish people—for example, during the Roman Catholic Church’s Inquisition). These reasons validate Otto and Edith’s idea that the country is safe while heightening the terrible consequences of their decision; ironically, as the mostly effortless takeover of the Netherlands indicates, the nation was never safe. Like Otto, the Netherlands believes that the rule of law will ensure its safety—invading a neutral country is a violation of international law. Both Otto and the Netherlands soon learn that the Nazis have no regard for any laws they haven’t written themselves. 

Third, the narrative establishes Anne’s interpersonal relationships, including conflicts with her mother and sister, a shared passion for books with her father, and her affection for her grandmother. These interactions set the foundation for greater development and consequent change in Anne as the novel proceeds. Otto and Oma defend Anne’s imaginative spirit, illustrating the importance of Family and Community as a Source of Support.

The narrative accomplishes these three goals by blending backstory, historical facts, character descriptions, and real-time scenes. In these early chapters, the events are brief: The sisters walk home, the family has dinner, and the bombs fall, signaling a break between Anne’s mundane daily life in the Netherlands and the increasingly horrific events of the Nazi occupation. These chapters provide crucial context and family history while indirectly expanding on the well-known traits of its central figures. For example, the historical Anne Frank is known from her diary as a daydreamer, a chatterbox, and a book lover. The novel—subtitled “A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary—broadens and deepens those traits to depict a fictionalized Anne’s love of sunny California, her kinship with Oma, her sudden realization that grownups feel fear, and—most crucially—her ability to observe the world through her inherent story sense, as if her life at almost 11 in Amsterdam is an important plot point in a much larger story. In this way, the novel’s Anne is a new character readers get to know while staying true to the voice and personality of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

The narrative’s blended style is most evident in the freely flowing changes in perspective. Many middle-grade novels feature an “I-voice” or third-person limited protagonist voice; some may feature split or multiple perspectives. When We Flew Away, though, offers an omniscient third-person narrator with occasional switches—sometimes mid-scene—to third-person limited. This “head-hopping” freedom allows the writer to explore connections between characters that they are not aware of, permitting the observant reader to pick up on indirect characterization clues. For example, Anne wonders silently about her mother’s apparent lack of tenderness: “If you ever lost me, would you cry until the world was flooded and the fields turned to ice?” (32). Anne’s mother has no idea Anne has these thoughts, and Anne has no idea later that night that Edith’s thoughts echo hers verbatim: “[…] if she ever lost one of her daughters she would cry until the world was flooded. She would weep until the fields turned to ice” (38). Dramatic irony results: The reader knows Edith’s and Anne’s heartfelt feelings mirror one another, but they do not.

In another break with narrative convention, the prologue uses a second-person perspective to address the reader as if they were Anne; other instances of the “you-voice” will echo this passage’s purpose of acknowledging what Anne remembers, accomplishes, or sacrifices. First-person perspective conveys the “What We Lost” passages at the ends of each part, giving Anne a voice to reflect on and summarize her takeaways.

Adding to the complex narrative layering, the author uses allusions to fairy tales and mythology to explore the power of storytelling to make sense of overwhelming events. Some fairy-tale references are direct, supporting Anne’s characterization as a story lover who interprets real life through a story lens. For example, “In fairy tales there were two parts to every story, the inside and the outside” (28) introduces the ominous glimpse of the future (the “inside” of her story) the day before the bombing, a haunting scene that foreshadows The Loss of Innocence in the Context of War and Genocide. But the idea of fairy tales often extends to the writing style itself, such as when evil people are compared to the wolves in the woods. The mystical appearance of the black moth becomes an extended metaphor for evil’s ability to spread undetected: “[A]nd when night fell, and the black moth appeared at the window, no one saw it, no one heard it tapping on the glass” (51). Fairy tale metaphors and allusions give Anne a narrative language with which to describe the otherwise incomprehensible events unfolding around her.

Finally, Part 1 establishes a tone of hope and faith struggling under the weight of oppression. Though the Germans themselves are not yet visible to Anne, she can hear their bombs exploding in the distance, and the sound is a harbinger of violence to come. The fear this sound engenders becomes an oppressive force within Anne’s home. Anne no longer feels special or bold, and her parents’ attempts to preserve normalcy are a pretense thinly veiling their fears, introducing The Impact of Violent Ideologies on Interpersonal Relationships. All, however, adopt a courageous optimism that flies in the face of the Nazis’ intentions; the Franks cannot leave, so they will stay, wait, hope, and trust. Otto’s faith in others is the authoritative source Anne wants to believe: “The rest of the world will come to the aid of the Netherlands” (46). In fact, his trust in the helpers recalls the hopeful words from Anne Frank’s diary quoted before Part 1 “How wonderful it is that no one has to wait even a minute to start gradually changing the world” (vii). Important to all middle-grade novels, this tone of hopefulness will bolster Anne in the coming events.