Unexpected Detour

Lynn Marie Jackson’s beautiful historical novel UNEXPECTED DETOUR makes the universal personal and the personal universal in wonderful ways. Instead of staying in Evanston, Illinois when her boyfriend is drafted for World War II, Faye joins her friend Midge in San Francisco. As men go to war, Faye gets a corporate job that includes top security clearance business with the military. She marries Steve before he ships to the Pacific Theatre, and blossoms in her new city and career. Set against the backdrop of San Francisco in World War II, the story captures the spirit of the women who stepped up and stepped in to keep things running while the men fought war on two fronts. It also explores the misogyny, the racism (especially toward the Chinese and Japanese populations), and the darker side of patriotism.  The city is very much an additional character, in all its charm and at times, all its menace. UNEXPECTED DETOUR is a page turner of an historical novel, with characters who will stay with the reader long past that last page.