Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by By Ford, Jamie
Category: Fiction , Historical , General

"Sentimental, heartfelt….the exploration of Henry’s changing relationship with his  family and with Keiko will keep most readers turning pages...A timely debut that  not only reminds readers of a shameful episode in American history, but cautions  us to examine the present and take heed we don’t repeat those injustices."-- Kirkus  Reviews “A tender and satisfying novel set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel  on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused  by war--not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to  the hearts and humanity of individual people. Especially relevant in today's world,  this is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more importantly,  it will make you feel."  -- Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The  Art of Racing in the Rain “Jamie Ford's first novel explores the age-old conflicts  between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans  in the Seattle area during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart  love.  An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut.” -- Lisa See, bestselling author of  Snow Flower and the Secret Fan  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.BONUS: This edition contains a Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet discussion guide and an excerpt from Jamie Ford's Songs of Willow Frost.