THE SUM OF IT ALL: The Abyss

The Sum of It All-'The Abyss' is the continuation of Albert's saga after the family's ejection from the DP camp system due to a mix up of names. It recounts the events leading towards the ejection and the attitude of the German Red Cross on the status of the family, carrying on from the three previous books 'The Twilight'. 'The Darkness' and 'The Betrayal'. The story begins with Albert drifting in his now familiar dream of his past life as he receives one of the chemo treatments for his new cancer that he developed.It describes the family's trials and tribulations trying to survive in a new post war chaos living in limbo between the allies' refusal to grant them refugee status and the Germans who claim that they do not fit into the 'German friendly' category for which they have been ejected from the DP camp. The family faces hunger, cold and the necessity to get involved in the post war black market, and a number of the experiences and intrigues that they must go through to succeed in their survival.Finally their name and reputation restored and the admittance of the American authorities of their error, but with a stipulation that the family at first cannot understand. The father immigrates to France and the family is reinstated to one of the Jewish transitional DP camps where Albert has an encounter with the supernatural. He keeps it to himself, but many years later the camp is turned into a US military base where rumours circulate that one of the buildings is haunted. Even though this apparition was not in the same place he feels that it is connected to his experience.The last stage in the emigration process takes them to another camp where they receive all the medical examinations, inoculations and documents for their trip to France to join his father.