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The Ark #2
Rowan Farm
Back in print from Purple House Press!
January 1948 began a wonderful year for the Lechows. With Father newly returned to Western Germany from a Russian prison camp, they were together again and could enjoy a measure of security and happiness in The Ark, their railroad car home on Rowan Farm.
It was a year that held for sixteen-year-old Margret in particular, both joy and sorrow. She found real satisfaction in entering Mrs. Almut’s Great Danes in two important shows and in raising several young animals which were her very own. She felt a vague unhappiness, however, when Mrs. Almut’s son, Bernd, as well as her own brother Matthias, succumbed to the charms of an attractive, but superficial girl from Frankfurt. But Margret had little time to brood. There was the abused Shetland pony whose life she was determined to save. There was also the problem of Andrea, her younger sister, whose flair for the dramatic landed her in serious difficulties at school. And Joey and Ull, the enterprising eight-year-olds, kept Margret in a constant state of uncertainty with their magnificent ventures. The year brought Margaret new friends as well—among them the resourceful young schoolmaster with his plan for rebuilding a bombed out farm, and the American woman, working in Germany with the Friends’ Service Committee.
As in The Ark, her previous book about the Lechow family, Mrs. Benary mirrors the slow changes of the season, come war or peace, the burgeoning of life in the spring and with it a renewal of hope. Once again she creates real people whose joys and disappointments are universally understood, and above all she leaves her readers a sense of courage and faith all too rare in books today.
January 1948 began a wonderful year for the Lechows. With Father newly returned to Western Germany from a Russian prison camp, they were together again and could enjoy a measure of security and happiness in The Ark, their railroad car home on Rowan Farm.
It was a year that held for sixteen-year-old Margret in particular, both joy and sorrow. She found real satisfaction in entering Mrs. Almut’s Great Danes in two important shows and in raising several young animals which were her very own. She felt a vague unhappiness, however, when Mrs. Almut’s son, Bernd, as well as her own brother Matthias, succumbed to the charms of an attractive, but superficial girl from Frankfurt. But Margret had little time to brood. There was the abused Shetland pony whose life she was determined to save. There was also the problem of Andrea, her younger sister, whose flair for the dramatic landed her in serious difficulties at school. And Joey and Ull, the enterprising eight-year-olds, kept Margret in a constant state of uncertainty with their magnificent ventures. The year brought Margaret new friends as well—among them the resourceful young schoolmaster with his plan for rebuilding a bombed out farm, and the American woman, working in Germany with the Friends’ Service Committee.
As in The Ark, her previous book about the Lechow family, Mrs. Benary mirrors the slow changes of the season, come war or peace, the burgeoning of life in the spring and with it a renewal of hope. Once again she creates real people whose joys and disappointments are universally understood, and above all she leaves her readers a sense of courage and faith all too rare in books today.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1949
15 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Margot Benary-Isbert
23 books38 followersGerman-born children’s author known for her "depictions of humane, realistic characters."
Benary-Isbert attended the College St. Carolus and the University of Frankfurt. She worked as a secretary at the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology in Frankfurt, Germany from 1910-1917, when she married Wilhelm Benary. They settled in Erfurt, in East Germany.
When the Russians took over Germany, she fled to the apartment of a friend in West Germany. In 1948 she wrote Die Arche Noah (The Ark). In 1953 it received a first prize at the New York Herald Tribune's Spring Book Festival. Post-war Germany became a common theme in most of her works.
In 1952 she moved to the United States, where she was naturalized in 1957 and worked as a writer until her death. She received the Jane Addams Children's Book Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1957 for "Annegret und Cara".
Most of Benary-Isbert's books were originally written and published in German; some were later translated into English and published again.
Benary-Isbert attended the College St. Carolus and the University of Frankfurt. She worked as a secretary at the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology in Frankfurt, Germany from 1910-1917, when she married Wilhelm Benary. They settled in Erfurt, in East Germany.
When the Russians took over Germany, she fled to the apartment of a friend in West Germany. In 1948 she wrote Die Arche Noah (The Ark). In 1953 it received a first prize at the New York Herald Tribune's Spring Book Festival. Post-war Germany became a common theme in most of her works.
In 1952 she moved to the United States, where she was naturalized in 1957 and worked as a writer until her death. She received the Jane Addams Children's Book Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1957 for "Annegret und Cara".
Most of Benary-Isbert's books were originally written and published in German; some were later translated into English and published again.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
June 4, 2025
Somehow even better than The Ark. I couldn't put it down. Wonderful, piercing, poignant, with the best final line I could imagine. I look forward to reading this duology many, many times in the future. It would make a splendid read-aloud.
March 31, 2025
Lovely. This is a book that wrestles mightily and humbly with suffering and hope and affirms a great gospel promise: nothing is meaningless, nothing is lost. As Gerard Manley Hopkins writes, “The Holy Ghost over the bent world broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings”. This book keeps alive that gleaming promise for each of our beloved characters that we met in The Ark and brings along a few more. Such a lovely buddy read with Lisa and Libby and the perfect ending for Middle Grade March.
April 24, 2022
Rowan’s Farm takes off where ‘The Ark’ let off...
The Lechow family has made Rowan Farm their home living in a converted railway coach. Farm work is never easy but they have a roof over their head, good food on the table, even some animals of their own.
But in war torn Germany, a Nation divided into chunks, a huge piece being now a part of the Soviet Union, the good fortune of the Lechow’s is not shared by everyone.
The ‘official war’ has ended for almost three years and now the war of the citizens has begun.
The effects of the War are still being felt everywhere. Most things continue to be rationed and everyone is still hungry and cold most of the time because they eat very poor food and lack adequate clothing. When the Lechows arrived from Pomerania, their most treasured possessions were their blankets.
But life has to go on and a new teacher joins school to teach the children who have not had a teacher for a very long time.
Christoph Hühnerbein, everyone laughs at the 20 year old war veteran with a disabled leg and an amputated arm, not because of his disabilities, these are commonplace in a country that has had a war for five years, but because Hühnerbein means ‘a hen’s leg’.
Belying his disabilities, Christoph is a very good teacher and does manage the school kids pretty well.
Sadly a great many people are fleeing East Germany; this happens to be the part the Russians ‘won’ after emerging victorious in WW II.
Most of the men are in War Camps and most of the times the work assigned to them are the mines in Ukraine, a back breaking job with poor rations.
So, thousands of men and boys pour into West Germany, the German authorities and the Americans try very hard to rehabilitate these refugees, but to get their papers in order and to get them housing is practically impossible.
The West Germans look at these refugees suspiciously, forgetting that they had once had good lives, houses and jobs before the War.
Black marketeers begin robbing livestock from the farmers and the Mayors pig a huge animal is robbed.
A little detective work by the younger Lechows and the black marketeers are nabbed.
Christoph Hühnerbein then decides that he with the help of his students should reconstruct the Wetz Farm, which had taken a direct hit from a bomb during the war, killing the entire family, destroying the house and everything around it.
Christoph, comes up with the idea of cleaning up the ruin to assess if anything is reusable, build what is called ‘rammed earth housing’ for the returning homeless veterans, most of whom had been in Russian prisoner of war camps.
As expected he runs into a great many difficulties from the local populace and Wilhelm Meister, the mayor, who plans to put a stop to it, because he has every intention of selling the land for a hefty profit.
Benary-Isbert deals with the difficult topics;
she talks about those thousands of teenage soldiers drafted into the German army towards the end of the war. They find themselves homeless and unable to adjust to life again. They have no parents, no papers and no shelter, she then talks about the two boys, Karl and Alfred.
Karl and Alfred have run away from East Germany, the Russians occupiers had sent these former teen soldiers to work and most likely die in the Ukrainian mines.
Luckily for them they are hired at Rowan Farm and become the first two veterans to live at the now rehabilitated Wetz Farm.
Someone reports them to the Mayor and they are in mortal fear that the Mayor will report them to the Russians, before this can happen, the two run away. Alfred is caught stealing and Karl commits suicide.
Benary-Isbert gives the reader the bad and the good of post war Germany. However not once has she criticised the Russians, she only states facts. That shows her immense dignity...
The Lechow family has made Rowan Farm their home living in a converted railway coach. Farm work is never easy but they have a roof over their head, good food on the table, even some animals of their own.
But in war torn Germany, a Nation divided into chunks, a huge piece being now a part of the Soviet Union, the good fortune of the Lechow’s is not shared by everyone.
The ‘official war’ has ended for almost three years and now the war of the citizens has begun.
The effects of the War are still being felt everywhere. Most things continue to be rationed and everyone is still hungry and cold most of the time because they eat very poor food and lack adequate clothing. When the Lechows arrived from Pomerania, their most treasured possessions were their blankets.
But life has to go on and a new teacher joins school to teach the children who have not had a teacher for a very long time.
Christoph Hühnerbein, everyone laughs at the 20 year old war veteran with a disabled leg and an amputated arm, not because of his disabilities, these are commonplace in a country that has had a war for five years, but because Hühnerbein means ‘a hen’s leg’.
Belying his disabilities, Christoph is a very good teacher and does manage the school kids pretty well.
Sadly a great many people are fleeing East Germany; this happens to be the part the Russians ‘won’ after emerging victorious in WW II.
Most of the men are in War Camps and most of the times the work assigned to them are the mines in Ukraine, a back breaking job with poor rations.
So, thousands of men and boys pour into West Germany, the German authorities and the Americans try very hard to rehabilitate these refugees, but to get their papers in order and to get them housing is practically impossible.
The West Germans look at these refugees suspiciously, forgetting that they had once had good lives, houses and jobs before the War.
Black marketeers begin robbing livestock from the farmers and the Mayors pig a huge animal is robbed.
A little detective work by the younger Lechows and the black marketeers are nabbed.
Christoph Hühnerbein then decides that he with the help of his students should reconstruct the Wetz Farm, which had taken a direct hit from a bomb during the war, killing the entire family, destroying the house and everything around it.
Christoph, comes up with the idea of cleaning up the ruin to assess if anything is reusable, build what is called ‘rammed earth housing’ for the returning homeless veterans, most of whom had been in Russian prisoner of war camps.
As expected he runs into a great many difficulties from the local populace and Wilhelm Meister, the mayor, who plans to put a stop to it, because he has every intention of selling the land for a hefty profit.
Benary-Isbert deals with the difficult topics;
she talks about those thousands of teenage soldiers drafted into the German army towards the end of the war. They find themselves homeless and unable to adjust to life again. They have no parents, no papers and no shelter, she then talks about the two boys, Karl and Alfred.
Karl and Alfred have run away from East Germany, the Russians occupiers had sent these former teen soldiers to work and most likely die in the Ukrainian mines.
Luckily for them they are hired at Rowan Farm and become the first two veterans to live at the now rehabilitated Wetz Farm.
Someone reports them to the Mayor and they are in mortal fear that the Mayor will report them to the Russians, before this can happen, the two run away. Alfred is caught stealing and Karl commits suicide.
Benary-Isbert gives the reader the bad and the good of post war Germany. However not once has she criticised the Russians, she only states facts. That shows her immense dignity...
March 30, 2025
I so enjoyed this follow up to The Ark. Reading it with Libby and Elizabeth was so insightful and fun. I will definitely read more by this author as I’m able to find them. Thanks to Purple House Press for republishing these lovely books!
March 29, 2020
Not nearly as powerful or even interesting, imo, as the first book, The Ark. The kids are growing up, there are lots more characters, and politicians have decided that power is more important, already, than immediate survival. However, during this time of the covid 19 pandemic, either book you read will surely make your current worries seem minor. (well, 99+% of you, anyway)
Book darts: I want to consider reading Wilhelm Meister.
"But have you also asked yourself what would become of us all if God gave us only justice?" Instead, we, too, should offer mercy as well as punishment.
"When something hurts, we have to set our teeth, swallow hard, and forget it."
Book darts: I want to consider reading Wilhelm Meister.
"But have you also asked yourself what would become of us all if God gave us only justice?" Instead, we, too, should offer mercy as well as punishment.
"When something hurts, we have to set our teeth, swallow hard, and forget it."
August 29, 2012
Rowan Farm is the sequel to The Ark, which was reviewed here in May, and continues the story of the Lechow family, Pomeranian refugees who have had to resettle in the Hesse area in Germany after the war. It begins precisely where The Ark left off, in January 1948. The war has been over for almost three years, but the effects are still being felt everywhere. Most things continue to be rationed, everyone is still hungry and cold all the time and much of the country still bears the scars of wartime destruction "Ruins rose into the clear winter air like broken teeth...To the left was the cemetery, torn up by bombs; to the right the ruins..." (pg 9)
All the Lechows from the first novel are still around in this second work: Dr. and Mrs. Lechow, Matthias, 17, Andrea, 13, Joey and adopted Ull, both 7, but the story is still centered mainly on Margret, 15. Margret still loves working as a kennel/stable maid for Mrs. Almut, who also breeds champion Great Danes as well as running a small farm with her son Bernd, who had returned from a prisoner of war camp the previous summer.
The story begins with two important events: first is the arrival of the new school teacher, Christoph Hühnerbein, a 20 year old war veteran with a disabled leg and an amputated arm; and second, Margret's rescue of a badly abused Shetland pony from the slaughterhouse and her nursing it from near death to heath.
Both of them are perfect metaphors for Germany at the end of the war and its endeavors to rebuild itself after the horror of its Nazi past.
Despite his disability, the new teacher soon has his students well in hand. When he hears about the Wetz Farm, which had taken a direct hit from a bomb during the war that killed the family and destroyed the house and everything near it, Hühnerbein comes up with the idea of cleaning it up to see what is reusable, and build what is called "rammed earth housing"with it for returning homeless veterans, most of whom had been in Russian prisoner of war camps. And much of the work is done with the aid of Margret's little Shetland pony, named Mignon, "after the poor, unhappy little gypsy child in [Goethe's] Wilhelm Meister." (pg 30) The project of supported by everyone except the mayor, who plans to put a stop to it.
Meanwhile, Margret also meets an American Quaker, Mrs. Coleman, who is in Germany to help out with the refugee problem and who has a farm with her husband in Pennsylvania. Now that the war is over, she and her husband want to start breeding Great Danes again, so she has a genuine interest in the dogs being bred at Rowan Farm. Naturally, she and Margret hit is off and she offers Margret a position in America.
Life is further complicated when a beautiful young woman from Frankfurt comes to visit her relatives, and both Matthias and Bernd loose their hearts to her, even though it was clear that Bernd had always been attracted to Margret, but too shy to do anything about it. Margret is hurt by Bernd's behavior and decides to wash her hand of him and men in general. But will that resolve really last or will it simply give her the push she needs to go to America with Mrs. Coleman?
Once again, Benary-Isbert has taken difficult topics and presented them in the gentlest manner in a story that is told so well geared for her young readers but without being overly graphic. Unlike in The Ark, she does talk more about the Nazi past, especially with regard to the 15 and 16 year olds who were drafted into the German army towards the end of the war and then found themselves homeless and unable to adjust to life again. Besides Bernd Almut, Benary-Isbert includes the story of two boys, Karl and Alfred. These two boys ran away from east Germany, whose Russians occupiers are sending former teen soldiers to work and mostly likely die in Uranian mines. They are hired at Rowan Farm and become the first two veterans to live in the rammed housing at Wetz Farm, but when they hear the mayor is going to report them to the Russians, they run away. Alfred gets caught stealing and Karl is found dead by suicide. Their stories are very compelling and point to a postwar problem not usually addressed in YA literature.
So again, as in The Ark, Benary-Isbert has given the reader the bad and the good together, to remind them that this is life and, like the continuous birth of new animals on the farm, life goes on. I wrote about The Ark that it is almost an overly sentimental story, yet people are surprised by how much they like it when they are finished. The same can be said of Rowan Farm.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was borrowed from a friend.
All the Lechows from the first novel are still around in this second work: Dr. and Mrs. Lechow, Matthias, 17, Andrea, 13, Joey and adopted Ull, both 7, but the story is still centered mainly on Margret, 15. Margret still loves working as a kennel/stable maid for Mrs. Almut, who also breeds champion Great Danes as well as running a small farm with her son Bernd, who had returned from a prisoner of war camp the previous summer.
The story begins with two important events: first is the arrival of the new school teacher, Christoph Hühnerbein, a 20 year old war veteran with a disabled leg and an amputated arm; and second, Margret's rescue of a badly abused Shetland pony from the slaughterhouse and her nursing it from near death to heath.
Both of them are perfect metaphors for Germany at the end of the war and its endeavors to rebuild itself after the horror of its Nazi past.
Despite his disability, the new teacher soon has his students well in hand. When he hears about the Wetz Farm, which had taken a direct hit from a bomb during the war that killed the family and destroyed the house and everything near it, Hühnerbein comes up with the idea of cleaning it up to see what is reusable, and build what is called "rammed earth housing"with it for returning homeless veterans, most of whom had been in Russian prisoner of war camps. And much of the work is done with the aid of Margret's little Shetland pony, named Mignon, "after the poor, unhappy little gypsy child in [Goethe's] Wilhelm Meister." (pg 30) The project of supported by everyone except the mayor, who plans to put a stop to it.
Meanwhile, Margret also meets an American Quaker, Mrs. Coleman, who is in Germany to help out with the refugee problem and who has a farm with her husband in Pennsylvania. Now that the war is over, she and her husband want to start breeding Great Danes again, so she has a genuine interest in the dogs being bred at Rowan Farm. Naturally, she and Margret hit is off and she offers Margret a position in America.
Life is further complicated when a beautiful young woman from Frankfurt comes to visit her relatives, and both Matthias and Bernd loose their hearts to her, even though it was clear that Bernd had always been attracted to Margret, but too shy to do anything about it. Margret is hurt by Bernd's behavior and decides to wash her hand of him and men in general. But will that resolve really last or will it simply give her the push she needs to go to America with Mrs. Coleman?
Once again, Benary-Isbert has taken difficult topics and presented them in the gentlest manner in a story that is told so well geared for her young readers but without being overly graphic. Unlike in The Ark, she does talk more about the Nazi past, especially with regard to the 15 and 16 year olds who were drafted into the German army towards the end of the war and then found themselves homeless and unable to adjust to life again. Besides Bernd Almut, Benary-Isbert includes the story of two boys, Karl and Alfred. These two boys ran away from east Germany, whose Russians occupiers are sending former teen soldiers to work and mostly likely die in Uranian mines. They are hired at Rowan Farm and become the first two veterans to live in the rammed housing at Wetz Farm, but when they hear the mayor is going to report them to the Russians, they run away. Alfred gets caught stealing and Karl is found dead by suicide. Their stories are very compelling and point to a postwar problem not usually addressed in YA literature.
So again, as in The Ark, Benary-Isbert has given the reader the bad and the good together, to remind them that this is life and, like the continuous birth of new animals on the farm, life goes on. I wrote about The Ark that it is almost an overly sentimental story, yet people are surprised by how much they like it when they are finished. The same can be said of Rowan Farm.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was borrowed from a friend.
October 26, 2022
This is one of my favorite ever comfort reads. Centers on a family of Pomeranian refugees in Germany after WWII and their struggle to re-establish themselves. Much about the redemptive and healing power of community and working with animals. And it's just so beautifully written, you long to enter the old stone farmyard and pet all the animals.
February 25, 2018
rebuilding rural Germany after WW II; lots of animals, farm life, a smidge of romance and nice dose of social history on the side. A satisfying sequel to The Ark.
June 8, 2012
I thought this book was even better than "The Ark" which is the beginning of the story of the Lechow family struggling along in post- World War II Germany. I'm awfully glad that I found these books as I had not read anything about how ordinary people in Germany had suffered during and after the war. Not all Germans were Nazis during World War II, but sometimes we tend to forget that. It was a beautiful story of a loving family trying to rebuild their lives and help others who had suffered because of the War as well.
May 19, 2025
Rowan Farm is the sequel to The Ark and continues the story of the Lechow family as they attempt to build new lives and a new home in post-war West Germany. Informed on the author's own knowledge and experiences after WWII, these two books show the chaos and ruin of Germany after WWII, but also the courage and hope of the people who work together to make the country fit for life and love once more.
This book is a little less funny than the first one, but instead feels more poignant and contemplative. That feels very natural, because most of the Lechow children are pretty well grown up by the end of it.
As you might expect from a book about life in post-World War II West Germany, many struggles are portrayed here. A new schoolmaster comes to town, a veteran who lost an arm in the war. He and his pupils try to build a home for displaced veterans out of an old farmhouse and meet with a lot of opposition. Other war veterans come through the story, all weary and burdened with doubt and dread and remorse. Some new characters are escapees from Communist East Germany.
The book never discusses Nazis or the cause for the war, only the helpfulness of American occupation troops in getting Germany back to being good and productive again. Benary-Isbert was German herself, and wrote the first draft of The Ark while sharing an apartment with two other families in West Germany after WWII. Both it and Rowan Farm were completed in the USA after she moved there with her husband in the 1950s.
This book is a little less funny than the first one, but instead feels more poignant and contemplative. That feels very natural, because most of the Lechow children are pretty well grown up by the end of it.
As you might expect from a book about life in post-World War II West Germany, many struggles are portrayed here. A new schoolmaster comes to town, a veteran who lost an arm in the war. He and his pupils try to build a home for displaced veterans out of an old farmhouse and meet with a lot of opposition. Other war veterans come through the story, all weary and burdened with doubt and dread and remorse. Some new characters are escapees from Communist East Germany.
The book never discusses Nazis or the cause for the war, only the helpfulness of American occupation troops in getting Germany back to being good and productive again. Benary-Isbert was German herself, and wrote the first draft of The Ark while sharing an apartment with two other families in West Germany after WWII. Both it and Rowan Farm were completed in the USA after she moved there with her husband in the 1950s.
June 14, 2008
The second volume following the precocious and hard-working Lechow children is a wonderful coming-of-age story with an endearing cast of characters - human and otherwise! The menagerie that has grown up around Margaret and her siblings is just as charming and comforting as ever. With a sensitive and generous tone, this book examines the triumphs and troubles that abounded for everyday individuals and families in post-war Germany.
I loved this book - devoured it in less than two days, in fact. I would definitely recommend reading "The Ark" first, since Benary-Isbert spends less time on character development of the Lechow family members this time around.
I loved this book - devoured it in less than two days, in fact. I would definitely recommend reading "The Ark" first, since Benary-Isbert spends less time on character development of the Lechow family members this time around.
May 25, 2009
Lovely follow-up to The Ark. One cares passionately about these people and their ruined Germany. The sheer grit of these farmers is humbling. It rings true, especially the "rascally boys". Highly recommended.
December 25, 2020
Sequel to The Ark, these books are classed as YA, but these are really for an older audience.
November 8, 2021
Such a lovely finish to the series. I recommend The Ark and Rowan Farm for a look into how a nation struggled to rebuild after WW2.
August 3, 2010
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Years ago I read The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert and fell in love with it. I found out pretty quickly that it had a sequel which, naturally, I wanted to read. But my library didn't have it and I really don't like buying books without reading them. So I waited. Then we moved, and that library didn't have it. I came to college, and my college library didn't have it. It was only very recently that I realized that my college is part of a group of colleges who send books to each other and that one of those other colleges might conceivably have it! I checked, and yes, they did.
So, all that to say, that after years of waiting, I finally read the sequel to The Ark. And I loved it too, which was a great relief. It turned out just the way I wanted to, which, believe me, I had been worrying about since I finished The Ark for the first time!
Anyone who has read The Ark will enjoy this one. There are old friends and several new ones. The story is still a mixture of realistic and sweet. If you haven't read The Ark, you should! And then you should read Rowan Farm.
Years ago I read The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert and fell in love with it. I found out pretty quickly that it had a sequel which, naturally, I wanted to read. But my library didn't have it and I really don't like buying books without reading them. So I waited. Then we moved, and that library didn't have it. I came to college, and my college library didn't have it. It was only very recently that I realized that my college is part of a group of colleges who send books to each other and that one of those other colleges might conceivably have it! I checked, and yes, they did.
So, all that to say, that after years of waiting, I finally read the sequel to The Ark. And I loved it too, which was a great relief. It turned out just the way I wanted to, which, believe me, I had been worrying about since I finished The Ark for the first time!
Anyone who has read The Ark will enjoy this one. There are old friends and several new ones. The story is still a mixture of realistic and sweet. If you haven't read The Ark, you should! And then you should read Rowan Farm.
November 14, 2021
I loved this book. It took me a bit to read it (but I may have peeked ahead so I knew the ending). IT was a really good look into Germany post WWII and some of the problems for the small town people (not the Nazi groups). We follow the [Lechow?Lechou?] family (sorry the book was super overdue so I had to turn it in so I cannot remember the spelling). Their father the Doctor has found them after he was released from the Russian camp. The family all settles into their roles at Rowan farm and figuring out who they are in the new world post war. We see them struggle through the new currency reform, problems in town with refugees, then problems with the soldiers from the war who have no place to return to roaming like vagabonds. I almost wish there was another story after this, I mean there are so many changes and things that I would really like to see develop. (Spoilers!!!!) Watching Joey & Ull grow up. The guy who found his child! and is living with Mari, like what happens there? The teacher and Bomu!!! Matthias and his trip to America!!! Dieter, the Cellar Rats, & Andrea? The Doctor and his new practice. Margaret & Bernd. The home on the Wetz? Wertz? farm. So many things I would want to see how they work out. But luckily it is a good ending and you can kinda imagine going forward how things went.....sigh.
Quotes:
“Another two hours-but now Dieter was going to play his best waltz and she would dance it with Bernd. ‘Something brand new!’ Dieter whispered to her as he started to mount the platform. ‘It’s called Waltz for Margret.’
The lithe Diana listened closely; she looked, among all the vivid costumes, like a snowflake in a swarm of butterflies. The notes of the prelude were carried by two violins, a flute’s trills breaking in. It was like the branches of a young birch swaying in the March wind, with a blackbird, high up at the very top of the tree, fluting away at its spring song. Couples made their way to the dance floor. Margaret continued to sit alone at the table, wholly absorbed in the melody of the waltz, which was different from any she had ever heard”(p. 73).
“There was red Aldebaran, the menacing eye of The Bull, looking toward the three stars of the Hunter Orion’s belt. Those had been hers and her twin brother Christian’s stars. Every winter they had shone down on the old garden in Pomerania, the garden of her childhood which she would never see again”(p. 76).
“Yet her she was now, little more than three years later, and once more her heart was attached to all sorts of living things-this foolish heart was attached to all sorts of living things-this foolish heart of hers which could not help loving, because love was the law of its being”(p. 76).
“How long ago that seemed-though it was less than a year. How long ago it seemed-though it was less than a year. How long ago her life with Christian and Cosi. Would it always be so-this passing from one life into another, leaving each behind her like an empty shell? And was death the door through which you entered into your real, your proper life? For the dead never changed; they alone remained, unalterable and faithful”(P. 76).
“’But have you also asked yourself what would become of us all if God gave us only justice?’”(p. 96).
“’And now good-bye, my child,’ Mother Theodora said at the end of the interview. ‘And do not forget that mercy is greater justice’”(p. 96).
“’And suppose it’s the robber’s hideout?’
‘Oh, then we’ll play dumb and ask for shelter for the night, and when they’re all asleep we’ll take Mignon out of the stall and scoot.’
‘Horse thieves and people like that always get drunk at night,’ Ull remembered. ‘Then they sleep like the dead and never notice what’s going on.’”(p. 159).
“Her slender hand with its dark-red fingernails was lying on the arm of a very debonair elderly gentleman. He must be at least thirty-five, Margret thought”(p. 187).
“It turned out that they said nothing at all. Both of them were not specifically communicative by nature; they bore their fate silently, as men should. Probably they had long since realized that the stunning bird of paradise was not meant for them. That’s the way life is, Margaret thought, feeling very experienced. We can’t have everything we’d like. When something hurts, we have to set our teeth, swallow hard, and forget it”(p. 188).
“And then, too, they had written a new song about, of all things, the currency- expressing the hope that the new Deutsche Mark would flourish and grow strong. The Cellar Rats firmly believed that they had not been forgotten and that one day, when things stabilized, there would be calls for them again. They had a name now; people knew about them and big newspapers had carried enthusiastic reviews of their troupe. Had it not been for Dieter, who held them all together, every one of them would have been ‘on the bum.’ But together they were the Cellar Rats, whose songs made people laugh and weep and forget their troubles for an hour”(p. 189).
“Perhaps, Margaret thought, God will again fill those big, hard-working hands, like an empty bowl. What is to be filled must first be empty, she had read in one of the professor’s old Chinese books”(p. 190).
“’My dear child,’ Margaret said sternly, ‘you’re a fine one to be telling other people what to do and what not to do. Aren’t you ashamed of proposing marriage to a man?’
‘Don’t be so terribly old-fashioned,’ Andrea said. ‘Do you expect me to wait until he proposes to me?’”(p. 198).
“’I suppose you’d rather be a violet blushing unseen? So would we all. Don’t laugh, so would I. Do you think I wouldn’t prefer having some nice man take care of me, instead of playing the hot-shot reporter and raking through the rubble of world history? But it’s well known there aren’t enough men to go around these days, eh? So what’s the choice? Everybody has to make his own way as best he can.’”(p. 212).
Quotes:
“Another two hours-but now Dieter was going to play his best waltz and she would dance it with Bernd. ‘Something brand new!’ Dieter whispered to her as he started to mount the platform. ‘It’s called Waltz for Margret.’
The lithe Diana listened closely; she looked, among all the vivid costumes, like a snowflake in a swarm of butterflies. The notes of the prelude were carried by two violins, a flute’s trills breaking in. It was like the branches of a young birch swaying in the March wind, with a blackbird, high up at the very top of the tree, fluting away at its spring song. Couples made their way to the dance floor. Margaret continued to sit alone at the table, wholly absorbed in the melody of the waltz, which was different from any she had ever heard”(p. 73).
“There was red Aldebaran, the menacing eye of The Bull, looking toward the three stars of the Hunter Orion’s belt. Those had been hers and her twin brother Christian’s stars. Every winter they had shone down on the old garden in Pomerania, the garden of her childhood which she would never see again”(p. 76).
“Yet her she was now, little more than three years later, and once more her heart was attached to all sorts of living things-this foolish heart was attached to all sorts of living things-this foolish heart of hers which could not help loving, because love was the law of its being”(p. 76).
“How long ago that seemed-though it was less than a year. How long ago it seemed-though it was less than a year. How long ago her life with Christian and Cosi. Would it always be so-this passing from one life into another, leaving each behind her like an empty shell? And was death the door through which you entered into your real, your proper life? For the dead never changed; they alone remained, unalterable and faithful”(P. 76).
“’But have you also asked yourself what would become of us all if God gave us only justice?’”(p. 96).
“’And now good-bye, my child,’ Mother Theodora said at the end of the interview. ‘And do not forget that mercy is greater justice’”(p. 96).
“’And suppose it’s the robber’s hideout?’
‘Oh, then we’ll play dumb and ask for shelter for the night, and when they’re all asleep we’ll take Mignon out of the stall and scoot.’
‘Horse thieves and people like that always get drunk at night,’ Ull remembered. ‘Then they sleep like the dead and never notice what’s going on.’”(p. 159).
“Her slender hand with its dark-red fingernails was lying on the arm of a very debonair elderly gentleman. He must be at least thirty-five, Margret thought”(p. 187).
“It turned out that they said nothing at all. Both of them were not specifically communicative by nature; they bore their fate silently, as men should. Probably they had long since realized that the stunning bird of paradise was not meant for them. That’s the way life is, Margaret thought, feeling very experienced. We can’t have everything we’d like. When something hurts, we have to set our teeth, swallow hard, and forget it”(p. 188).
“And then, too, they had written a new song about, of all things, the currency- expressing the hope that the new Deutsche Mark would flourish and grow strong. The Cellar Rats firmly believed that they had not been forgotten and that one day, when things stabilized, there would be calls for them again. They had a name now; people knew about them and big newspapers had carried enthusiastic reviews of their troupe. Had it not been for Dieter, who held them all together, every one of them would have been ‘on the bum.’ But together they were the Cellar Rats, whose songs made people laugh and weep and forget their troubles for an hour”(p. 189).
“Perhaps, Margaret thought, God will again fill those big, hard-working hands, like an empty bowl. What is to be filled must first be empty, she had read in one of the professor’s old Chinese books”(p. 190).
“’My dear child,’ Margaret said sternly, ‘you’re a fine one to be telling other people what to do and what not to do. Aren’t you ashamed of proposing marriage to a man?’
‘Don’t be so terribly old-fashioned,’ Andrea said. ‘Do you expect me to wait until he proposes to me?’”(p. 198).
“’I suppose you’d rather be a violet blushing unseen? So would we all. Don’t laugh, so would I. Do you think I wouldn’t prefer having some nice man take care of me, instead of playing the hot-shot reporter and raking through the rubble of world history? But it’s well known there aren’t enough men to go around these days, eh? So what’s the choice? Everybody has to make his own way as best he can.’”(p. 212).
January 22, 2015
Translated from the German and published in 1954 this is second in "series" but stands alone well! A refugee family from Pomerania has settled in a small German town (first book I assume). Depicts for teens the effects of WWII on the displaced families after the war. Whew! Missing fathers, wounded warriors with no home to return to, hard work on farms but also the occasional dance, love, overcoming hardship, etc. Quite inspiring. And a fun read too. Daily life on a farm with ponies, cows, sheep, bunnies, etc. I liked this a lot.
December 14, 2019
I liked it even better than the Ark, but I can see why the Ark is still available, and I had to get my research librarian to help me find Rowan Farm. The sequel is squarely in YA but the Ark is middle grade. But after 35 years, I finally got to find out what happened to Margaret and Bernd, the Cellar Rats, Father and Mother and the animals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2016
This is the continuing story of the characters in "The Ark". Great read-aloud -- children wanted it to go on. Story emphasizes hard work, perseverance, and loyalty to family, friends, and community.
October 25, 2017
This is the sequel to The Ark. This book shows less of the desperation and suffering of the German people in the aftermath of World War Two as did the Ark, but perhaps because of that, it is much happier. This is excellent historical fiction and I recommend to anyone interested in the period.
March 10, 2019
The sequel to The Ark. it was still well written, engaging, and thought provoking but I loved The Ark soooo much that this one just wasn’t quite as good. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it though!
March 25, 2008
Sequel to "The Ark" that, like the first book, gives insight into conditions in post-WW II Germany; memorable characters.
October 17, 2014
Delightful sequel to The Ark.
January 26, 2018
This was my childhood favorite book and I still read it every year. I love how farm life rescues people from their war distresses. Great characters! Her best book.
January 11, 2021
The sequel to The Ark. Spoilers ahead.
In post World War II Germany, Margret and her family are settled on the title farm, her father trying to practice again as a doctor but he has to be certified and needs shoes, they are all coping with the influx of refugees, a new schoolteacher is needed because the school has doubled, there are many problems with food and money, all of them have adventures, Margret's older brother and the son of the farmer's owner are both taken with a girl, animals are born and tended, work is done on the farm, and more.
A slice of life in some very trying time.
In post World War II Germany, Margret and her family are settled on the title farm, her father trying to practice again as a doctor but he has to be certified and needs shoes, they are all coping with the influx of refugees, a new schoolteacher is needed because the school has doubled, there are many problems with food and money, all of them have adventures, Margret's older brother and the son of the farmer's owner are both taken with a girl, animals are born and tended, work is done on the farm, and more.
A slice of life in some very trying time.
February 24, 2025
Sequel to The Ark. Rowan Farm is just as delightful as its predecessor. We are back at Rowan Farm dealing with the aftermath of WWII. We meet new characters like the forward thinking teacher and one of Mr. Lechow’s friends from the prison camp in Russia. There is a bit of romance woven through but it isn’t the main storyline. There is more talk of death including a suicide. I really enjoyed these two books immensely.
December 2, 2022
This is the sequel to her book The Ark. Living Book homeschoolers, add this to your study of post WWII. This takes place in the reconstruction in Germany after the war. I loved this book as I got to know more about what happened to this family from The Ark. I had to search high and low for this book but it is now being reprinted.
December 18, 2022
I always love a hopeful story about plucky people facing hard times with courage. This is set in post-WWII occupied Germany with all its attendant fallout of refugees, family loss, privation, obstructive officialdom...but it is softened by lively children, hardworking young people. kindhearted adults, and well-loved animals. This is a sequel. I'd like to read the first.
January 12, 2025
A beautiful sequel to The Ark. I did just find out that apparently there's two other spin-off books that give you final looks at the characters and now I so desperately want to get my hands on those. I adore the ending of Rowan Farm, but there's still little threads that I would so love to hear more about because I love these characters so much. <3
August 24, 2021
Wonderful pastoral young adult book leaving you with hope for a better world. Although this was published in 1954, the same problems they encountered regard the communities fears and treatment of those different from them remain.
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