A haunting book, filled with imagery, it explores racism in the 1940's and 1950's. It tells of life on an island in Puget sound. After the death of a (white) fisherman and the arrest of another fisherman (Japanese American), the story unfolds through flashbacks to reveal intertwined lives, distinct cultures, and the bitter undercurrent of racism that divides neighbors. As the truth unfolds along with the story, I was tempted to read ahead - would the full truth be known before it was too late? Would they listen?

Excellent book! I would highly recommend it!! The movie is another story, though..wouldn't recommend that!! ( )

Unsäglich langweilig: Selten habe ich ein derart langatmiges Buch gelesen. Ausgehend von einem aktuell stattfindenden Mordprozess wird fast durchweg Vergangenes erzählt, das einem zwar die Protagonisten näher bringt, aber derart ab- und ausschweifend ist, dass man sich fast zwingen muß weiter zu lesen. Viele dieser in der Vergangenheit spielenden Handlungsstränge sind für den Fortgang der Erzählung absolut entbehrlich, das ist sehr ärgerlich.
Von der ziemlich haarsträubenden Auflöung des Falls am Ende ganz zu schweigen.
Dazu bemerkt der aufmerksame Leser immer wieder Formulierungen, die er in exakt gleichem Wortlaut schon einige Seiten zuvor gelesen hat. Das kann eigentlich nicht an schlechter Übersetzung liegen.

Es gibt so viel gute Bücher mit denen man seine Zeit angenehm verbringen kann - dieses gehört mitnichten dazu!

This is not an exciting, thrill-a-minute, real page-turner type of book. It is, in a word, interesting. I like both strawberries and winter, so I enjoyed much of the description. The characters, while realistically portrayed, did not evoke much sympathy in me, and while I generally understand why the reporter was given so much backstory, it did not really strike me as all that relevant. So if the post-WWII world of Japanese Americans in a remote island off the coast of Washington state interests you, you may like this book. If not, you would probably be bored to tears. ( )

I read sentences over and over. This is a wonderfully written book, the language sonorous, impressive in the range and depth of detail on everything that makes up life on an island off the coast of Washington. Having visited a similarly located island, Haida Gwaii (The Queen Charlotte Islands) off the west coast of Canada, I found the descriptions of landscape and the way of life especially riveting. I was also impressed with the vivid character sketches of a panorama of minor characters. Even walk-ons who barely have a word merit a name, first and last, something about appearance, ability, personality. The weaving of the courtroom drama and scenes from earlier in the lives of all the participants is done incredibly skillfully.

My only quibble with this book is at the end. I felt that it was winding up, with tense suspense, toward a sad end. I didn't want that ending, but it felt inevitable and right given everything that came before it. But toward the end, with rapid fire speed, a happy ending was pulled out of a hat, and for me it wasn't convincing and didn't have the power of the rest of the book. It brought forward for me where the book was not as strong as the rest. The love triangle never quite struck me as real.

But that aside, this book has so much beauty in its language, from landscape to character descriptions. The courtroom scenes are convincing. The structure amazing. The range of it marvelous: the way it captures a time, the fishing and strawberry farming, social structure, Japanese internment camp, one of the best war scenes I've ever read.