'Snow Falling on Cedars'
David
Guterson
After a slow
start I eventually became engrossed in the story and found it hard to put the
book down. Published in 1995 the book slid into the return shoot at the library
where I work and I wondered why I had
not read it before now.
The story
involves the trial of a local fisherman for the murder of another. Both men live in a small close knit community on San
Pedro, an island in Puget Sound. The time
frame is post WWII and as the story line unfolds we are given
detailed information about each character and their relationships with one
another. We learn of forbidden love between
Ishmael and Japanese /American
Hatsue, of childhood friendships soured
by prejudice and anti- Japanese sentiment during and post WWII, of a resentment
between two families over the ownership of a small piece of land. We are left
wondering what exactly did happen on the boat that night?
I loved it!