Monika Arenth

Beneath the Boulder Monika Arenth

It is 1951. Life is getting back to normal in post war Germany. The Economic Miracle under Chancellor Adenauer is in full swing. People have jobs, houses are being built, food stores are replenished and the cold post war hunger years are almost forgotten. A 6 week old baby Monika is placed into the tender care of her grandparents and their extended family, which is functional but not flawless. When she is five years old, just before school begin, the family moves into a new housing development of single family homes above the medieval city of Rotenburg directly across from the towns cemetery. While her life is easy and happy within the shelter of her family, neighbors on the same street are not faring as well. People are disappearing at an alarming rate. Neighbors who joke and laugh across the fences one day, are gone the next. This book shares a look into their lives. It is a 10 year account of love, life and loss, seen through her eyes with an attempt to solve the mystery.