Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet & a Giveaway

I was excited to receive a copy of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet  by Jamie Ford after readng so many favorable reviews on various blogs. Luckily, I was not at all disappointed.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is the story of Henry, a Chinese American, who is in his fifties, recently widowed and retired and living in Seattle. The discovery of an old Japanese parasol in the basement of the long boarded up Panama hotel brings back long buried memories of Henry’s childhood in Seattle’s Chinatown during the early 1940’s.

Trying to integrate their son into Western society, Henry was enrolled in an all white school. Forced to wear an “I am Chinese” button so he is not mistaken as a Japanese boy after the Pearl Harbor attack, Henry is lonely and is taunted relentlessly by his peers. His only friend is a black musician who plays his sax on a local street corner. So when Keiko, who is also twelve, begins attending the school, she and Henry become quick friends. Henry walks Keiko to Japantown each afternoon after school and love soon begins to blossom. 

Henry’s father is very traditional and doesn’t feel a close connection with his son. Henry knows he cannot bring his new friend to his home, since father is a Chinese nationalist who has a deep hatred of the  Japanese, who have been bombing cities in China for years.  But when the US government  begins rounding up Japanese citizens to be “relocated” to various camps, Henry does everything a boy can possibly do to save Keiko and her family and begins to learn more about the culture divide between the Chinese Americans and the Japanese Americans.

Forty years later, when the parasol and other items are discovered in the Panama Hotel, Henry enlists the help on his only son Marty (with whom he has a strained relationship) to search through the items. But what exactly is he looking for?

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a story about families steeped in honor and tradition and a young boy and girl trying to find their place during this tumultuous time. Ford writes about many issues in this multi-layered tale. The book is not only about young love, but also about various forms of racial issues, with the isolation of being a minority at an all-white school to the differences of being Chinese and Japanese during this time in America.       

In Lesley’s review, she says “The writing is occasionally simplistic and I finished reading the novel without a singly lyrical passage to share. And yet, I couldn’t put this book down!” I agree that there wasn’t a particular passage that I felt I needed to share, but just like Lesley I was really engaged in the story. It is expertly paced and a book I will gladly share with my friends. The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a great book. Don’t miss it.

If Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet sounds like a book you would like to read, I have one hardcover copy to give away! For a chance to win, please leave a comment on this post. To double your chances, either write about this giveaway on your own blog or tweet about it on twitter (Stop by @SWrittenWord to win copy of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet http://tinyurl.com/pcc8ov). This giveaway will be open until 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 20th. Good luck!