An Unlikely Prospect: A World War II Novel | Shelley Blanton-Stroud
For fans of Kate Quinns The Rose Code and Jacqueline Winspears The Consequences of Fear comes a gripping novel, set in postWWII San Francisco, about a young female newspaper publisher and a story that could change the course of her citys future. In the jubilant aftermath of Japans surrender in World War II, San Francisco erupts in celebration. But for Sandy Zimmer, the thirty-two-year-old widow publisher of the Prospect newspaper, the revelry masks a darker truth. In the chaos of the VJ Day Peace Riot, eleven deaths and six rapes take place. Driven by journalistic integrity and battling her own instincts to maintain peace, Sandy directs her paper to investigate the riot. Her quest for truth pits her against formidable adversaries: her controlling civic-leader father-in-law, the newspapers resistant board, and authorities desperate to bury the scandal as they vie to attract the United Nations Headquarters to San Francisco. Based on little-known historical events, An Unlikely Prospect follows Sandys fight to find her voice in the male-dominated world of 1945 journalism. As she navigates power dynamics, gender roles, and the steep price of printing the truth, Sandy must confront her own transformation from a people-pleasing widow into a determined publisher willing to challenge the status quo.