Title: The Quonset in Tutujan
Author: C. Sablan Gault
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 9781984552090
Pages: 306
Genre: Historical Romance
Reviewed by: Anita Lock

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Author C. Sablan Gault spins a compelling love story amid turbulent times in her second novel, The Quonset in Tutujan. Vivian de Leon Camacho is Chamorro, a native of Guam—a tiny western Pacific island once under Spanish rule and now a U.S. territory. She leads a simple life with her father; the two are wards of the U.S. under naval jurisdiction. In 1939 eighteen-year-old Vivian and her father welcome into their meager home twenty-three-year-old Philip Avery, a white U.S. Navy commander who comes from a well-to-do background. Vivian and Philip’s attraction to one another is immediate, even though they keep their feelings hidden from one another.

Two years later, the Japanese invade Guam; their brutal occupation between 19411944 sets Vivian and Philip apart until a near-fatal accident leaves Philip semicomatose. Vivian briefly attends to his injuries before he goes to the U.S. for rehabilitation. It’s not until World War II ends that the two reunite and he asks her to marry him. Now two months after their 1946-Guam wedding, Philip plans to bring his new bride to Albany, New York to meet his affluent family. Although Vivian does everything possible to prepare for the U.S. trip, she has no idea precisely all she’ll have to face.

Recollecting romantic tales during WWII, one might immediately turn to European countries, the United States, and the people encompassed within those continents. C. Sablan Gault takes romance to a different direction when she features the war-torn and near-forgotten island of Guam. The rising Chamorro author first provided a window into Guamanian history with her debut novel, A Mansion on the Moon: A Guam Love Story, which was set between the Spanish-American War and WWII and centered mainly on romances (including Vivian’s) within the Camacho family. The Quonset in Tutujan is a continuation to her debut, but this time set pre, during, and post WWII and focused on Vivian Camacho and her relationship with Philip Avery.

Gault’s straightforward writing style takes readers into the life of one woman’s fantasy of marrying the man of her dreams becoming a reality. Dividing her narrative into five sections, Gault opens in 1946 (present day) with the newly-married Avery’s who prepare to leave Guam on their U.S. trip before delving into the past. Vivian has never left Guam or let alone flown in a plane. Amid the excitement of this new life with Philip, she struggles with her jitters while attempting to focus on their adventure. Vivian flashes back to her life on Guam and her relationship with Philip. Irony is front and center in Gault’s narrative, which is used to highlight the couple’s distinct differences. Vivian is poor, and while intelligent, she is not college-educated. Her world experience is limited to her life on the island coupled with the horrors of war. She also has no experience with the opposite sex. Philip, on the other hand, is rich, college and military educated, a world traveler, and lead a promiscuous lifestyle before his relationship began with Vivian. Above all that they are a racially-mixed couple, which—back in that day—was not the norm.

In the midst of love and racial tension, Gault does an excellent job of weaving in facts on how WWII significantly affected the Chamorro people and their beautiful island. Although the information never lords over Gault’s romantic tale, she provides just enough to make readers shudder over these horrific war crimes. She deftly draws the story back from the past into the present and beyond as Vivian and Philip make their way to Albany, New York. Chapters are replete with themes that focus on genuine love, naivety, and self-assuredness, especially in the case of a girl who knows who she is and what she wants no matter the challenges she has to face in life.

The Quonset in Tutujan is an unforgettable tale perfect for both romance and history aficionados.