Because [Christa Wolf] is East German, it would be easy to see her work as political protest, and to some degree it is. She grew up in Nazi Germany and described her early life in two brilliant semiautobiographical novels, "The Quest for Christa T." and "A Model Childhood." In "A Model Childhood," published here in 1980, she portrays a child, Nelly, who is an obedient daughter, good student and exemplary member of the Hitler Youth…. Nelly rarely rebels openly, but with each conflict something inside her quietly sighs as it is smothered. What is most striking about Christa Wolf's vision is that it is love more than fear that silences Nelly, a much loved child.

But it is clear that the nourishment Christa Wolf seeks is not to be found in the West either. The title of her new novel, "No Place On Earth," underscores this fact. The book...