The Plot Against America

Philip Roth

There is a whole host of reviews for this book out there, most of them glowing, so only a couple of things occurred to me to mention. One is that, like a lot of counter-factual history, it runs into the problem of how to put history back on course at the end. In this book, as is usually the case, it's left to a few pages at the end and as a consequence it's a rush job.

The second thing is, it seems to me in The Plot Against America Roth is exploring in fiction the theme of parental powerlessness. This is something which was central to Patrimony, his wonderful non-fiction book about caring for his dying father. In The Plot Against America a right-wing takeover of the American presidency in the 1940s has succeeded in keeping the United States out of the war and left Jewish America feeling vulnerable. The book is particularly about the relationship between two teenage Jewish boys and their father and the boys' different coping strategies as their proud father rages impotently at the dishonesty of the new regime.

In spite of the rush at the end I enjoyed it very much.