/lit/ - Literature

>>10415138

Added more detail for the backstory. For context, it starts out as a seemingly very minor alt-history but drops subtle hints that a major event in American history went very differently and is the cause of the events of the novel. It eventually ends with Anne crossing paths with a number of very famous authors from our timeline who are serving as soldiers in an Army taking part in the liberation of the Netherlands.

>December, 1943
>on the last day of Hannukah, Anne Frank hears on the radio of the Allies' victory breaking through the Gustav Line in Italy
>she rejoices, seeing this as a good sign that the war will end soon
>she reads a smuggled newspaper featuring a photo of of a general named Patton inspecting his troops
>Anne ignores the actual article and spends her time admiring Patton’s uniform, a lightly-colored long double-breasted coat and a cap similar to what the French use. Fawning over the beautifully made braids on the forearms and wreath insignia on the collar. She wishes she could see her fellow fugitive Peter van Pels, whom she has an intense crush on, wearing it.
>in the evening, Anne and Peter sneak off into an unoccupied room to celebrate their good turn of fortune
>while the two are chatting, trucks carrying SS men arrive and they assault a building down the street. Fearful that their talking may have attracted attention, Anne and Peter lie dead still and avoid the window. They can hear the screaming and smashing of glass. No doubt the Germans have captured yet another group of Jews.
>after the Germans take the Jews away. Anne and Peter embrace each other for the next several minutes, utterly terrified. Driven by the shared desire to drive the fear from their minds, the embrace turns to kisses, torn clothes, and the two consummate their budding relationship that night
>one day in January, Anne is reading an old geography textbook out of boredom. As she traces the lines of the the four countries that compose North America with her finger, she suddenly suffers a bout of sickness and vomiting, despite being in perfect health. Anne realizes she’s pregnant after missing her period. After telling Peter, the two panic and are afraid the others will find out.
>when they do eventually discover Anne’s pregnancy, her and Peter's parents, enraged and blaming the other for what happened, nearly come to blows and are only stopped by the fact that fighting would certainly draw attention.
>as her pregnancy progresses, it becomes apparent that Anne will have to be taken out of the city to give birth. However, getting her out of Amsterdam is nearly impossible with all the German checkpoints and crackdowns on the Dutch resistance. All of which intensify in June with the Normandy Landings. The Armies of five nations come ashore in Northern France, but hopes of their immediately liberating the Netherlands are dashed as it becomes apparent that they are bogged down in intense fighting.