An aging German art historian and widower becomes romantically linked with a Polish art restorer and widow he meets in Gdansk on All Soul's Day. They decide to go into business together returning the remains of Germans exiled after the war to Danzig. The idea of reconciling Polish and German Danzigers in a cemetery falls prey to modern greed reminiscent of Nazi land-grabbing. Seemingly casual, the book packs a powerful, satirical punch of the past into the present, flaying both Communism and capitalism. Grass's novel Cat and Mouse is also set in Gdansk.  (PLD23, $14.00)