In Turtledove's universe WWI is fought on a number of fronts in the US, the
worst one being the Roanoke front in Virginia. Basically the whole
landscape gets blown to kingdom come for advances of only a few hundred
yards. The CSA captured Washington DC early in the war and held it for
most of it - which is why Clara's father Hal and Nellie were spies for the
US authorities. At the end of the war, when the CSA starts losing, they
fight like hell to hold on to the city. The US bombs the Confederacy
hoping to force them out of the way, and Washington ends up in pretty bad
shape.
For the purpose of my imagination, I'm putting the coffee shop in a working class sort of neighborhood, where repairs might not have been made so quickly even during the good times of the 1920's. So the ruined building is more or less in Clara's backyard.
Hopefully the real chapter five will come soon. Unfortunately, I have a real life at a college where professors insist on having papers and projects and things turned in on time, plus a thesis hanging over my head. ~Courtney
For the purpose of my imagination, I'm putting the coffee shop in a working class sort of neighborhood, where repairs might not have been made so quickly even during the good times of the 1920's. So the ruined building is more or less in Clara's backyard.
Hopefully the real chapter five will come soon. Unfortunately, I have a real life at a college where professors insist on having papers and projects and things turned in on time, plus a thesis hanging over my head. ~Courtney