Common Cause

In Fenchester, a grand German-American convention erupts into a revealing test of loyalties, and young reporter Jeremy Robson recognizes at once that the city's polished patriotism hides a dangerous divide. Amid speeches praising the Kaiser and Deutschtum, the accidental playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sparks a startling breach: most remain seated, but Marcia Ames rises in salute, joined by the powerful Magnus Laurens, and Jeremy senses the story beneath the ceremony. When he interviews Marcia afterward, her fearless insistence on honoring her country—and her account of being arrested for the same act in Germany—sharpens the novel's themes of divided allegiance, civic courage, and the gathering shadow of war. Jeremy's attempt to report the truth is blocked when his story is killed for being too openly American, exposing the political pressure shaping Fenchester journalism. As editors, financiers, and German-American interests close ranks, he is forced to confront the cost of compromise, the fragility of his paper, and his own uneasy failures. Yet the novel also widens into a portrait of ambition and hope through Buddy Higman, a hardworking boy who dreams of rising from small newspaper tasks to something greater. Together, these scenes create a tense, vivid wartime drama about patriotism, public voice, and the price of standing alone. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.