Book Review: Unbelonging
Unbelonging by David J. Jepsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a now-misplaced Seattleite, I always perk up at the sight of a book set in my beloved city. Set during and after World War II, various stories of individual struggles weave together to create a story-tapestry about life in post-war Seattle for marginalized people. No punches are pulled in describing what life looked like for working women, the Japanese, single motherhood, soldiers returning home and unable to cope with the changes in their family, the struggle of a black man trying to purchase a home, the classic race-baiting on a public bus…
Many people idealize Seattle, including me. My two decades (the 70s and 80s) there created memories that seem to become more magical as time passes – it’s what our brains do. This book served to remind me that my generation was also flawed and a victim of history. Seattle IS an amazing city. But let’s not forget to occasionally look at the dirt we’ve swept under the rug.
I nicked one star off the rating due to poor editing. This book would have benefitted from a sharp eye tidying up punctuation and grammar. Most people won’t notice, but I have the sort of brain that can’t help it.
Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
