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)

Fairly Good

It was a good book, I wasn't 'can't wait to get back in the car' excited about it, but it was still a good story. Overall, it did a great job of letting the readers know all the characters and their stories...I would recommend it.

Very Enjoyable!

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook not just because the narration was excellent, but also because the characters in Ford's novel were so well developed. The story was interesting, though somewhat predicatable (I didn't find myself 'sitting on the edge of my seat')...but overall, this book had real soul and atmosphere, and that is what kept drawing me into it. It was also a great history lesson and made the reality of the internment of the Japanese Americans come to life. Well worth a listen.

great debut novel about another time and place

Firs time author for me, debut novel for the author. This is both a coming of age novel as well as looking back at your life as you get older wondering about all the choices you made and would you make them again. Set in Seattle in both 1942 and 1986, it's the story of a young Chinese American male, Henry Lee, who as a young teenager is sent to an all white school by his parents to 'get ahead' and the young Japanese American girl he meets there, Keiko, who has been sent there for the same reasons. It's 1942 and Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor and WWII is underway. Both Henry and Keiko feel the prejudice of being Asian in the US at that time but Keiko, especially, as events unfold that would send she and her family to a Japanese internment camp. The book goes back and forth between the two different years where 40 years later Henry still thinks about Keiko and what might have been as he had lead the life his parents wanted him to.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be of Japanese descent living in the United States after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor? Me, I knew about the camps but never really thought much about it. Have you ever thought about what it must have been like to be Chinese American after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and many lumped you in with the Japanese just for being Asian even though China had already been fighting Japan ten years? No? Me, neither.

The author, who is of Chinese American descent himself, writes a great tale bringing to life this story of life in America at a difficult time for two ethnic groups. If you like these kinds of books, you'll really like this one.

Great!

Enjoyed the story far more than I expected. Captivating story and good narration. I would definitely recommend it as a read.

okay but thought it would be better

I think the narration in this one is pretty good. Feodor Chin does a few accents but doesn't go overboard and his main narrative voice is easy to follow. The story itself I find a little sophomoric. I thought the parts about the history of the Japanese in our own country was very interesting and the part about the hotel and camps equally interesting. The love story part, eh, kind of boring. A light read. Probably good for a train ride or the beach. Or if you plan on visiting Seattle I would suggest a read. I like historical fiction -- a story based on factual events. I give it only 3 because of weak story. I would give 4 to Feodor Chin for good narration.

Hotel at the corner of bitter and sweet

I was intranced with this as i was driving to iowa, myself, sister and husband all went crazy with this story and wished for more when it was finsihed. It was well told

I hope that High Schools recommend this book!

The author invites the reader into a beautifully written story that is set in a time that America should never forget. As a Japanese American who was born and raised in the greater Seattle-area, I was impressed about how much I learned or had not previously considered about Seattle’s International District. I hope that this book becomes recommended reading in high schools throughout the PNW.

Good story!

I really enjoyed this fictional book for the historical aspect of what happened to Japanese Americans on the west coast during World War II. Interesting story to learn about history and it kept my attention. Well read with good accents by the reader.

Well-written, well-read

I enjoyed this book when I wasn't sure I would. Some of the aspects of the plot are predictable, but the author does an excellent job of weaving together the present with various stages of the main character's past. Very well performed and overall an enjoyable read.

Wonderful book!

Thought this book was a wonderful listen. Easy to follow and loved the history that was given.