In 1934, during the Great Depression, West Coast longshoremen from San Diego, California to Seattle, Washington, went on a terrible and sweeping strike. For 83 days no ships went out or came in except one for humanitarian reasons. It was a hard time fraught with desperate measures of good people struggling to survive. It threw the city into chaos, affecting everyone whether directly involved or not. There were no universal Government safety nets, unemployment compensation, minimum wage, or social security. For some, the time meant great opportunities and wealth.
In San Francisco, the strike was so riotous, the military set up a 5.5 mile perimeter along the Embarcadero from approximately Fisherman's Wharf to Oakland Bay Bridge. The docks were protected with patrolling soldiers, machine gun bunkers, and tanks.
The story, Broken City, begins in the roughneck oil fields of Texas. Two young men, one white, one black, David Elder and Abe Jackson form a lifelong bond. When their friend, PeeWee Stanton, is senselessly killed, his murderers, within the hour, are dead, caught in a mysterious fire in a brothel.
Elder and Abe are advised, no, told to leave, perhaps to San Francisco. They do but leave behind something unresolved. In San Francisco, they meet their destinies; they advance in business and society but never lose sight of their humble beginnings. In the year of the strike, City corruption is rampant. They are caught in perilous events and the dilemma of keeping their ways or skirting the law to find justice including the task of protecting a lovely Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany.
Broken City is rife with history, humanity, character, tender love, redemption, and family. Its humor and pathos may sometimes bring the reader to tears of sadness, joy, and chuckles of understanding. Although historical fiction, many of the characters lived. It is finely balanced for an excellent, entertaining read.
