Crazy-for-Books.com: Blog Tour: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Blog Tour: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

5:57 PM | Thoughts by Jennifer (Crazy-for-Books) |

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Trade Paperback

285 pages

Genre: Historial Fiction

Purchase the book!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

This book meets the following 2010 Reading Challenges I'm participating in:

100+ Reading Challenge

Reading From My Shelves Project

About Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

"In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice–words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart." -- courtesy of TLC Book Tours

My Thoughts

Amazing. Outstanding. Phenomenal.

Those are only a few of the words I would use to describe this fantastic book from debut author, Jamie Ford. I honestly can't believe that this is his first book! From the very first page, I was drawn into Henry's world of the past (1940s) and present (1980s) as he recounts his relationship with Keiko, a Japanese-American girl. At the onset, the reader learns that Henry is Chinese-American and living in Seattle. He is struggling with the loss of his wife and his tenuous relationship with his son, Marty. One day Henry finds himself at the Panama Hotel where the new owner has uncovered belongings of Japanese families. Henry is immediately transported back to a time in the 1940s and we learn of his involvement with the young Japanese-American girl, Keiko. This was a time, during World War II, where Japanese families were sent to internment camps. Henry's father is so concerned with people thinking they are Japanese that he makes young Henry wear a button stating "I am Chinese" everywhere he goes. Despite of this, Henry and Keiko forge a strong bond, although it must be kept hidden from his family.

This is a story of young love, of loss, of father/son relationships, and, ultimately, of hope. It is a very engaging story that moves quickly. You feel like you are sitting in the room with Henry as he recounts his story. This book is utterly magnificent in its simplicity. There isn't much flowery language or unbearably long descriptions of things; it is just a sweet story with a hopeful message.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is truly remarkable and it's definitely a must-read. You won't be disappointed!

I received this book from TLC Book Tours for my participation in a blog tour. It in no way influenced my review of the book.

View the rest of the tour stops!

Reading Guide

About the Author

Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the Western name “Ford,” thus confusing countless generations. Ford is an award-winning short-story writer, an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and a survivor of Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp. Having grown up near Seattle’s Chinatown, he now lives in Montana with his wife and children.

Visit Jamie’s website HERE and his BitterSweet Blog HERE.

Book Trailer (found on YouTube)