On San Piedro, an island of rugged, spectacular beauty in Puget Sound, a
Japanese-American fisherman stands trial for murder. Set in 1954 in the
shadow of World War II, "Snow Falling on Cedars" is a beautifully crafted
courtroom drama, love story, and war novel, illuminating the psychology of a
community, the ambiguities of justice, the racism that persists even between
neighbors, and the necessity of individual moral action despite the
indifference of nature and circumstance.