-1994 novel written by American writer David Guterson
Plot
-This novel takes place on the fictitious location of San Piedro Island in thte northwestern part of Puget Sound in Washington State in 1954. This book revolves around a murder case involving a Japanese American war hero named Kabuo Miyamoto, who is accused of killing a respected fisherman named Carl Heine. Carl's body was pulled up from the ocean, trapped in his own net on Sept. 15, 1954. His watch stopped at 1:47 am. The trial was held in December 1954 during a massive snowstorm, and of all things, it occurs when the entire island is in the middle of deep resentment towards Japanese following World War II. The person covering the case and trial is the town's only one man newspaper, the San Piedro Review, a man named Ishmael Chambers. He was a US Marine veteran who lost an arm in WWII fighting the Japanese at the Battle of Tarawa. With a strong hate towards the Japanese, Chambers starts to struggle with love for Kabuo's wife Hatsue and his conscience, wondering if Kabuo is innocent
-Involved in the prosecution is the town sheriff, Art Moran, the prosecutor, Alvin Hooks. Several witnesses, including Etta Heine, Carl's mother, all accuse Kabuo of murdering Carl because of racial and personal reasons. What they do not know is that Kabuo Miyamoto is a decorated veteran with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team(a combat team of mostly Japanese American men). He experienced severe racial prejudice because of his ethnicity, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
-Also present in the trial, are Horace Whaley, the town coroner, and Ole Jurgensen, an elderly man who sells his strawberry field to Carl. The strawberry field was contested in the trial. The land originally belonged to Carl Heine Sr. The Miyamotos lived in a house on the Heine's land and picked strawberries for the Heine's. Kabuo and Carl Heine Jr. were close as kids, Kabuo's dad eventually came up to Carl Heine Sr. anout buying 7 acres of land. Though Etta opposed, Carl Sr. agreed. The payments were to be made over 10 years. Before the last payment could be made, war started between the US and Japan after the Pearl Harbor bombing. All people of Japanese descent were forced ro relocate to internment camps. Hatsue and her family, the Imadas, were interned in Manzanar camp, in California
-In 1944, Carl Sr. died from a heart attack and Etta Heine sold the land to Jurgensen. When Kabuo returned after the war, he was severely bitter towards Etta for selling their land. When Jurgensen suffered from a stroke and decided to sell the farm, he was approached by Carl Heine Jr hours before Kabuo arrived to buy the land back. During the trial, the land is brought in as a possible motive for Carl's murder. Ishamel's search for records reveals that at the Point White lighthouse station, that on the night Carl Heine died, a freigher called the SS West Corona had passed through where Carl was fishing at 1:42 am, 5 minutes before he died. Ishmael comes to the conclusion that Carl must have been thrown overboard due to the massive wake from the freighter. Despite the hatred he feels as Hatsue's unwanted lover, Ishmael comes forward with the new information. More evidence is found, supporting the idea that Carl had slipped overboard and drowned. The charges are dismissed against Kabuo Miyamoto.
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