But then, things shifted. The island seemed tiny, people’s views shrunken. How could a place so filled with immigrants take the idea of “patriotism” so seriously? Ilse had laughed and said, “The zeal of the convert.” And that phrase spoken by a smiling young man in Tokyo kept returning to her: “American lives.” It was a talisman, that phrase, the second part of it given weight by the first part.
