num_pages: 12
description: From the bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet comes a powerful novel inspired by a true story about a boy whose life is transformed at Seattle's epic 1909 World's Fair.For twelve-year-old Ernest Young a charity student at a boarding school the chance to go to the World's Fair feels like a gift. But only once he's there amid the exotic exhibits fireworks and Ferris wheels does he discover that he is the one who is actually the prize. The half-Chinese orphan is astounded to learn he will be raffled off--a healthy boy to a good home.The winning ticket belongs to the flamboyant madam of a high-class brothel famous for educating her girls. There Ernest becomes the new houseboy and befriends Maisie the madam's precocious daughter and a bold scullery maid named Fahn. Their friendship and affection form the first real family Ernest has ever known--and against all odds this new sporting life gives him the sense of home he's always desired.But as the grande dame succumbs to an occupational hazard and their world of finery begins to crumble all three must grapple with hope ambition and first love.Fifty years later in the shadow of Seattle's second World's Fair Ernest struggles to help his ailing wife reconcile who she once was with who she wanted to be while trying to keep family secrets hidden from their grown-up daughters.Against a rich backdrop of post-Victorian vice suffrage and celebration Love and Other Consolations is an enchanting tale about innocence and devotion--in a world where everything and everyone is for sale.
language: None
title: Love and Other Consolation Prizes
publisher: Books on Tape