Robert Frederick Jackson Jr.

A WINDING THREAD

The novels in this series are individual stories about members of a certain American family from historically significant Virginia and the Southwest and the people in the Philippines who become tied together in marriage or strong friendship with those Americans. As the thread winds through each book, people and their stories are woven together, and the main core story thread reveals the development in particular of certain men and women often unexpectedly tied together in life.

The protagonists of several ethnic backgrounds throughout are strong moral and courageous individuals and believe in their faith in God, moral values, and their shared country. During the most Philippines focused volumes, the islands become an American colony, placing patriotism and loyalty as a theme front and center across the tapestry. The United States wanted and thought it had a right to the Philippines Archipelago after the Spanish American War. The Filipinos had won independence from Spain, and didn’t realize they needed the U.S. to keep Japan and other authoritarian, imperialist nations away. Set in the American Southwest, the Philippines, Caribbean, Middle East, and Southwest Asia, between 1863 and 1945 this series portrays a mix of ethnic characters and tends to focus tightly to some extent to move at a good reading pace.

The author lived for several years in the Philippines where his wife was then a medical professional and owner-administrator of a family owned hospital, now part of a major university. They were blessed to have traveled in all three major regions of the archipelago. Robert Jackson is an educator, illustrator, muralist, and studio painter. He studies various historical issues related to war, atrocities, colonialism, etc. and is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.