The Ark

Product Description

The Ark and its sequel, Rowan Farm, are back in print after being hard-to-find for decades!

Two rooms all to themselves⁠—it was almost too good to be true! For this was postwar Germany, filled with starving, homeless people trying to stay alive amidst the rubble, and to the Lechows the two freezing attic rooms in Mrs. Verduz’ house on Parsley Street were an unbelievable stroke of luck. No matter that every stick of furniture and even the cracked dishes were borrowed from a grudging but kind landlady, that food was so scarce they were nearly always hungry, that Matthias, loving the stars and growing things, was assigned to construction work by the Labor Office. Now that there was a roof over their heads, Joey and Andrea could attend school, and perhaps Father, if he was still alive, would find his way to them from the prison camp in Russia.

It was a makeshift arrangement at best, but somehow Mother made the cheerless rooms homelike, and soon there were good friends⁠—lovable, half wild Hans Ulrich who treasure hunted with Joey in the ruins of bombed out houses; musical Dieter; and plump, cheerful Lenchen⁠—to share their meager but merry Christmas celebration. Only shy, lonely Margret, who felt that half herself had died with her twin brother Christian in East Germany, made no special friend, unless one counted Caliph, Mrs. Verduz’ cat. But eventually it was Margret’s love of animals that led her to sprightly Mrs. Almut and Rowan Farm and, before the next Christmas, Matthias had exchanged his hated job for the hard but satisfying work of the farm. Margret, too, happily caring for Mrs. Almut’s Great Danes, was beginning to understand the inexorable cycle of life and death, and the Ark, an old railroad car on the farm converted into a home, was ready to receive a reunited family.

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Kidview – The Ark
by Emily Szostak

‘Too bad people can’t always be playing music, maybe then there wouldn’t be any more wars.’ – Margot Benary-Isbert

This intriguing book, The Ark, is written by Margot Benary-Isbert. When she wrote this book, she showed what her life was like as a young mother and how families struggled after World War II. Many people didn’t have much after being in Refugee Camps, and, like the Lechows in The Ark, Margot struggled to make enough money in order to feed her family. In 1945, she wrote The Ark and its sequel, Rowan Farm, based on her own experiences.

In a nutshell, the Lechow family had nothing except each other. They had no place to stay and their father had disappeared in the war. If he was alive, he’d have to get out of the Russian prison camps and then find his way back to his family. But the Lechows still had hope. Margret Lechow, fourteen years old, had led her family to Mrs Almut and Rowan farm because of her great love of animals. The Lechows found a dear friend in her and others, and a temporary place to stay. Joey Lechow and his friend Hans Ulrich find a mysterious suitcase in the ruins of a house. But what of their Father? Will he return? Or was he gone from this earth? And will they ever find their forever home?

I would definitely recommend this book! It is heartwarming, and includes fascinating information about Germany, post WWII. The Ark works well for a family read-aloud of all ages, but it is also great for 8+ to read alone. At the end of each chapter, Margot encourages her readers to continue by creating cliffhangers. You need to read this captivating historical novel!