Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

A Novel

By: Jamie Ford

Narrated by: Feodor Chin

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-seller.

“An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut that explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle era during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love.” (Lisa See)

In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II. As the owner displays and unfurls a Japanese parasol, Henry, a Chinese American, remembers a young Japanese American girl from his childhood in the 1940s - Keiko Okabe, with whom he forged a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcended the prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family were evacuated to the internment camps, she and Henry could only hope that their promise to each other would be kept.

Now, 40 years later, Henry explores the hotel’s basement for the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure. His search will take him on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for family, for love, for country.

Praise for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet:

“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. This is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more important, it will make you feel.” (Garth Stein, best-selling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain)

“Mesmerizing and evocative, a tale of conflicted loyalties and timeless devotion.” (Sara Gruen, best-selling author of Water for Elephants)

“A wartime-era Chinese-Japanese variation on Romeo and Juliet.... The period detail [is] so revealing and so well rendered.” (The Seattle Times)

“A poignant story that transports the reader back in time...a satisfying and heart-wrenching tale.” (Deseret Morning News)

“A lovely combination of romantic coincidence, historic detail and realism that is smooth and highly readable.... Ford does wonderful work in re-creating prewar Seattle.” (The Oregonian)

©2009 Jamie Ford (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut that explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle era during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love.” (Lisa See)

“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. This is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more important, it will make you feel.” (Garth Stein, best-selling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain)

“Mesmerizing and evocative, a tale of conflicted loyalties and timeless devotion.” (Sara Gruen, best-selling author of Water for Elephants)

Great book!

Loved everything about this. Listened too it in one day. Get it you won’t be sorry.

Touching

I really enjoyed reading this book. The rendition of the struggle to find peace in America during the 1940s was enlightening.

Tremendous book.

Very well written. Excellent reading. Able to “live” the story as it was spoken. Thank you.

This should be required reading in high school

Loved telling of this bittersweet story and gaining a better understanding of a period of time I was not so aware of previously. Will recommend this to friends and feel it should be required reading for high school English classes.

Tender hearted story with unbiased history

I deeply enjoyed this tender love story set in two historic moments in Seattle’s Asian America. The multi-generational and cross-cultural dramas are nuanced, and yet familiar to any reader. The author’s details of the people and places are textured and come to life in the imagination. The reader does a fabulous job of creating character voices and staying true to them throughout.

history

the history aspect even though it was a fiction depiction. I enjoyed the person reading the story.

Once I figured out

...that the reason I didn't enjoy this book was because of the slow reading pace then I could fix it. I sped it up on my ipod and although it made the audio jerky it make the story much more enjoyable! This is a sweet story of love lost and a little glimpse into the tragedy of Japanese interment camps.

Very Good

An engaging love story that introduced me to the US internment camps during WWII.

Slow

It took a long time for the story to develop, and when it did it wasn't much of a story. Nothing all that exciting happens, the characters are nice but not interesting. I thought the book was just ok.

Sweet and touching

Found this book as a recommendation for those who loved "The Help". While slower, and in many ways simpler, I still found it heart warming. The simple prose is often poetic and it speaks to classic themes of youth, aging, love... and whether losses can be mended over time.