THREE
(Jake) threads will start out exactly alike but will
diverge before the end of the first chapter. In each Jake makes a simple choice based on the circumstances at the time. There is yet a
Fourth Thread from a different narrator
(The Package Deal).
Jake - close to home is the ONLY Thread without a connection to the Philippines. It is in therefore some ways radically different from the other threads.
We all have forks in the road of our life. Like the "Loving Spoonful" sang, [We] "pick one and leave the other behind." That is what Jake does.
Here we learn of the consequences to Jake of choosing another fork. Each time it's a different choice at a slightly different point in his life. We get to consider, 'What would have happened if..."
Other stories contained in this universe are tied to one of the Jake histories and or borrow historical structure from the specific threads.
Are any of these threads and Jakes real? These stories are described as fiction... but what if one is not, or not completely?
