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 Berlin Wall, 1961–89, a barrier first erected in Aug., 1961, by the East German government along the border between East and West Berlin, and later extended along the entire border between East Germany East Germany: see Germany. and West Germany. It was built to halt large numbers of defections and to prevent E. Berliners commuting to the West. Erected at a time of growing tension between East and West, the barbed wire was eventually replaced by concrete topped with wire. 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 secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. The Nature of a Secret PoliceEnforcement of the law has required, in nearly all societies, a certain amount of secrecy, particularly in the investigation of crime and the identification of what are often considered conspiracies., 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 em·pa·thize (  m p -th z 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
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