THE ARK
By
A heart felt story of a post-war German refugee family of five, but one that falls short of significance by way of sentimentality and an appeal to a too-sunny attitude towards life. From Pomerania, the Lechowa -- mother and children, Matthias the eldest, Margaret, Andrea, and small Joey- come to the town of Hesse in West Germany and are allotted two rooms in the house of Mrs. Verduz. With spirit- and it is here that there are the overdoses of gaiety- they settle down and find the friends who will keep them company. Matthias gets a construction job, Andrea and Joey go to school. But in particular it is quiet Margaret's story and her love of animals leads them all to friendship with another family who own a farm in the country and who in the end, offer the Lechows an old railroad car on their land for a more permanent home. As a surprise Dr. Lechow, whom the family believes may have been lost to the invading Russians, returns. Superficial treatment of more vital elements in pinioned country however, makes the book a disappointment.