Sometimes, early in the experience of reading a book, I will get a sensation that I may be in the presence of a classic. It’s tough to say what triggers this sensation. I remember experiencing it ...

Anne Frank’s checkered diary is sitting on a desk. Trinkets are scattered on the shelf above it—some pencils, black-and-white photos, and a pair of metal scissors. Postcards and photos of 1920s ...

Performances in N.Y.C. Her diary overflows with her devotion to books and movies. But after rereading the entries, a critic was struck by how often she writes about music. Credit...Photo 12/Universal ...

Ms. Franklin is the author of the forthcoming “The Many Lives of Anne Frank.” “Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. … Families are torn apart; men, women and children are ...