Broken Ground.

BROKEN GROUND. Kai Maristed. 2003. Read by Johanna Ward. 9 tapes. 12.5 hrs. Blackstone Audiobooks. 0-7861-2585-3. $62.95. Vinyl; plot, author notes. A

The Berlin Wall is down and restrictions on movement between western and eastern Germany have eased. Kaethe Shalk, who came of age under communism in East Germany, returns to Berlin from her home in America. She intends to search for her daughter Sophie, who may or may not want to be found. Kaethe takes a room in a cheap pension, where she has to fend off a woman who meddles in her life. She reconnects with Matthias, an old lover, and visits the places where her life happened in a now-almost-vanished world.

Through flashbacks, we learn of her marriage to an aristocrat who casually cheated on her, divorced her in a dizzying "trial," and later manipulated her into giving him custody of their daughter. We get a glimpse into the tactics of the stazi, the oppressive communist-era German secret police, and into the difficulties of living today within a country where capitalism has not yet invigorated the good life. Emotionally engaging for adults and mature young people, who will empathize with a woman who struggles with the baggage of a painful past. Ward reads with a trained, melodious voice paced with precision and provides a good handling of German words and phrases. Edna Boardman, Brismarck, ND