Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: Global Overview for this book
ISBN: Global Overview for this book
2 journalers for this copy...
From Back Cover
In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boardered 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 hop that their promise to each other would be kept. Now, forty 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
My Review
I absolutely loved this story! I thought it was a beautifully written. I'm a big historical fiction fan and Jamie Ford's book will be placed in my top favorites of this genre. Not only did Mr. Ford tell a wonderful tale of two young classmates and their strong devotion to each other, but he also did a nice job relating the attitudes by and towards Japanese Americans during a dismal time in American history.
In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boardered 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 hop that their promise to each other would be kept. Now, forty 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
My Review
I absolutely loved this story! I thought it was a beautifully written. I'm a big historical fiction fan and Jamie Ford's book will be placed in my top favorites of this genre. Not only did Mr. Ford tell a wonderful tale of two young classmates and their strong devotion to each other, but he also did a nice job relating the attitudes by and towards Japanese Americans during a dismal time in American history.
Sending this to haahaahaa98. They chose this book from Round 3 of the Asian Diaspora VBB (hosted by hyphen8). Happy Travels! Happy Reading!
Thanks! Received via the Asian Diaspora VBB Round 3
Nice, gentle intimate voice. Looking forward to progressing.
