Yankee Tsunami: The AftermathYankee Tsunami: The Aftermath by Andrew R. DiConti is the final historical novel of the Yankee Tsunami trilogy, which covers a period shortly following the Spanish-American War through December 1900. For America, it is a time of innovation, influence and intrusive power. Her new Navy plays a major role in creating a tidal wave of supremacy that sweeps over much of the Pacific Rim. The trilogy's protagonist, Gamble Crane, has just returned to California following a year's tour of the Pacific after serving as a navigator aboard the USS Boston. Relishing a new assignment in the Bay Area, located only a short distance from Crane's place of birth, his destiny is redirected by a series of surprising events. Unknown forces intervene, and he is reassigned to the Navy Construction Corps, which is involved in the development of America's first operational submarine at the pioneering Union Iron Works Shipyard in San Francisco, California. A submarine in 1900 is as revolutionary as the Stealth aircraft would be today, with both American innovations startling the respective world military establishments of their time. Crane's recent courtship with Emily Chan, an American of Chinese ancestry born in Monterey, California, creates further complications in his life. Marriage between races in America is frowned upon to such a degree that miscegenation laws are being enacted in many states in the country. In San Francisco, although mixed marriages are legal, they are prevented by de facto means, since a license to marry is refused a couple not of the same race. Crane, with assistance from a prominent San Franciscan, is able to circumvent the licensing hurdle, which shortly culminates in a clandestine marriage. Conflicts and tension do not end, as having to live as husband and wife in the shadows takes a serious psychological toll on the recently married couple. Crane, who astonishingly for his age and rating plays a vital role in the development of the submarine, is obliged to use deception to conceal his problematic marriage and yet perform his critical and highly scrutinized duties. Further dilemmas, such as the black plague quarantine of Chinatown where Emily is employed, the treacherous disclosure of their taboo marriage and the Navy's spectacular first war games involving a submarine, test Gamble and Emily's love and steadfastness. Can a couple shielded only by their love survive the scorn of a society that creates laws treating non-whites unequally? Will the force of the Yankee Tsunami, which has relentlessly altered the lives of many in the entire Pacific Rim, be the same force that both exposes and destroys the careers and marriage of Emily and Gamble Crane? Yankee Tsunami: The Aftermath tells that emotional story. Sadly, Gamble and Emily's experience was not unique in times past. Many other Californians, who married another not of their race, were also victims of bias and discrimination. |
