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Oct 13, 2017KMJ_ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The book looks at what the United States would have looked like in the 1960s if the Axis Powers had won World War II. In this parallel world, Franklin Roosevelt was assassinated in 1933, changing history so that the United States did not have the power to win against the Axis Powers. Instead of focusing on the global events, the book follows individuals living in a terrifying world. The small details in the book, where one slip up can ruin lives, show how fraught and tense this alternative world is. Most of the story takes place in occupied San Francisco, with some sections taking place in the Neutral States along the Rocky Mountains. In California, Frank leaves his job and starts a jewelry business with a former coworker. His company strikes a deal with Robert Childan, an antiques dealer who supplies American folk artifacts that are popular with his Japanese customers. Also in San Francisco, Tagomi and Baynes are meeting for business, even though neither seems to trust the other. Meanwhile Frank’s ex-wife, Juliana meets a strange truck driver named Joe in the Neutral States. There is a book within the book called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy which discusses what would have happened if The Allied Forces had won the war.