Jakes's description of settings and characters and his realistic dialogue pull a reader into the story, establish characterization, and move the plot forward. His most effective scenes are from Paul's point of view because Paul, the photographer, sees people and events as if he is filming them with a camera.

Scenes aboard the Rheinland, as young Pauli sees them, contribute to the immigrant experience, a central theme of the novel. Many European ethnic groups are represented on the ship with different customs and religions, their clothes, the unpalatable food, the storm, seasickness, the smells of vomit, sweat, and feces, and always a few who prey upon the naive and weak.

Paul's confrontation with Mrs. Petigru, his school teacher, who "smells like mothballs," demonstrates with film-like realism the prejudice of some Americans toward German immigrants, even though fifteen percent of Chicage's population is German. "She was a plain, drab...