EDITH'S BOOK

With supreme hubris, the author invites--indeed, demands--that we compare her with Anne Frank. She, too, was a teenaged Dutch Jewess who kept a diary during the harrowing Nazi occupation. Whereas Frank perished, Velmans survived to publish this chronicle, illustrated by highly selective quotes from her wartime journals. This is the sort of book that could go two ways depending on the narrator--one approach could give the (perhaps true) impression of a self-centered, unremarkable bourgeoise, and another would take the author at her own estimation. The latter is what Miriam Margolyes does here, using her superb technique, transcendent dignity and deep sensitivity to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The author doth protest so much about her innocence and youthful sweetness that she makes her own character unbelievable and unsympathetic. If her book has importance, it is as an eyewitness account of her times; whereas Frank's diary is an unguarded revelation about a very special heart during those same times. By some magic, however, Margolyes infuses personality and soul into Edith Velman far beyond the scope of the cliché-ridden prose. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]