By Philip Roth
In this chilling alternative history, it is not FDR who wins a 3rd term in 1940 but aviator Charles Lindbergh, isolationist and anti-Semite who is elected to a 1st term. Even before the presidential election, Jews, such as the 8-year-old narrator, Philip, no longer feel safe, as they once did, and their fears are warranted. As western Europe, Japan, and the USSR go to war, Lindy runs on a pledge to keep America out of another world war. This promise, along with Lindbergh's great popularity, guaranty victory. The Roths and their neighbors try to carry on as before in their middle class Newark neighborhood, taking a trip to Washington DC (where Herman Roth gets into arguments over his derogatory remarks regarding Lindbergh) , and Bess Roth taking a job to supplement the family income (especially should they decide to migrate to Canada). But Philip's orphaned cousin Alvin is horrified by Hitler's government and goes to Canada to enlist with the Canadian military to fight the Nazis; when he loses a leg, he comes to live with Philip's family, who all make adjustments to help Alvin cope. Meanwhile, Philip's older brother Sandy is recruited by "Just Us", a program of the "Office of American Absorption" to move Jews out of "ghettos" and integrate them into the rural heartland where they will be more likely to becomes victims of anti-Semitic violence. Eventually it becomes clear that Jews are being blamed for the war, and that President Lindbergh has made a horrible secret deal with Hitler.
I read the audio version, listening to this story on my commute to Newport, and experienced many "driveway moments" when I hesitated turning the car off so I could hear what would happen next. Very suspenseful story - and not that far removed from reality!
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