Set in a small island community in the Puget Sound, Snow Falling on Cedars is structured around the trial of a Japanese-American citizen. Although the trial acts as a framing device, much of the novel is devoted to exploring the lives of the islanders before it takes place. Set in the early 1950s, much of the novel concerns itself with the prejudice and suspicion of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the long-lasting effects that the interment of Japanese-Americans had on the island community.
In presenting this wound, the novel dramatizes its effects on individuals, particularly those of the Miyamoto family's land holdings, which are sold off in their absence following the...
