I read this book after listening to a discussion on Anne Frank's Diary legacy: one commenter praised the situation imagined by Roth, imagining how Anne Frank, having survived the death camps but unable to tell her father, may have lived and perceived the publication of her diary.

Beyond her tragic fate, Anne Frank is indeed a deeply interesting character and indeed, reading her diary is made even more heartbreaking when confronted with her plans for the future as a writer or journalist. Taking her as a character (even if Roth takes some caution not to do it too... literally, say) gives a great responsibility not to betray her. And I don't think Roth lives up to this requirement. It feels shameful to conflate the Frank character with Roth's Amy, who has such a pathetic scene of unrequited longing when Frank in her real diary shows at 14 year old quite a lot more of mordant when facing the inadequacies of those she loves.

Further, copying and paraphrasing her diary would be acceptable if that was brining an additional dimension to it, with the hindsight of the decades elapsed since. In Roth novel, it doesn't in my opinion.

My conclusion is that one should (re)read The Diary of Anne Frank in its "Definitive Edition"... and can skip Roth.