A DREAM OF FUJI

by Arthemise Goertz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 1958

On December 7, 1941, Janet, a svelte young American in her early twenties, stands waiting in the deserted American Club of Tokyo, wondering why Dick Cameron has not kept his date. It is only later that Janet learns from her Eurasian friend, Victoria, that the United States and Japan are at war, and understands that Dick, a fighting newspaper man, is now persona non grata to the Japanese to whom he has been preaching democratic ideology. A chance encounter with the young iconoclast convinces her that she cannot leave Tokyo without him, and she refuses the marriage proposal of a widowed Swiss diplomat, choosing possible imprisonment to the loveless safety such a marriage would guarantee. Janet is interned and Dick is arrested, although they manage to come together long enough to marry and consummate their love. It soon becomes evident that the Japanese intend to use the ardent young couple as targets for their propaganda machine, making consistent efforts to force them into collaboration. But in the end, despite a harrowing ordeal, integrity wins, and just before the American bombing of Yokohama, with the help of both Japanese and Western friends, the young couple board a ship which will take them safely back to the United States. A timeworn plot of intrigue and slick romance is only superficially relieved by the host of minor characters who wander ruefully in and out of this story, while Japan, herself, hovers over the characters like a dismal grey cloud. Despite a valorous attempt to bring these people to life by plunging them into a moral and political crisis, one reads on and on wondering if, after all, those true blooded protagonists should not have stayed in Westchester.

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1958

Categories: FICTION