It is 1952, and Jack Lovett is telling Inez Victor about atom bomb tests, first in the islands of the Pacific, then in Nevada, and last of all in the Aleutians; Jack had witnessed all of them. Inez is a high-school student, and the two are seeing each other without her family's knowledge. Later, they will see each other in Jakarta in 1969 and in Honolulu in 1975. The last chapters of the story take place in 1975, when Vietnam is being evacuated. (read more)
