A "precociously self-aware writer" and her "gifted explicator."

Among the many noteworthy reviews of Anne Frank by Francine Prose is this one by Janet Maslin in the New York Times.

"If there is a central point about Anne here, it is that she was a precociously self-aware writer rather than a spontaneous, ingenuous diarist. It takes a real writer, Ms. Prose points out, to hide the mechanics of her work and make it sound as if she is simply talking to her readers. Similarly, it takes a gifted explicator to make it sound as if she is presenting her arguments conversationally rather than creating elaborate, research-heavy diatribes to back them up."