Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "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."--Garth Stein, bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain 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, 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.Show more
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
4.5 stars!
I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, especially the second half. The first half was a little slow at first, but it picked up by the 35-40% mark. The setting was one of my favorite things about this book, especially since it was set in Chinatown in Seattle, a place that I know and went to often as a child. Hearing about all those familiar Seattle places and landmarks was a really nice nostalgic moment. I also could really relate to the Chinese family dynamics (and also they spoke Cantonese, not Mandarin!)
I also got really invested in the love story and I was really sad about how it all turned out. But it was bittersweet, as the book title implies, and I liked that there was maybe (in my head, at least) a hope for something more at the end of the book, or at least the renewal of a close friendship. I just had a lot of feelings about Henry and Keiko and their missed opportunities. Definitely a sweet and important book about a period of history that everyone should know about.
I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, especially the second half. The first half was a little slow at first, but it picked up by the 35-40% mark. The setting was one of my favorite things about this book, especially since it was set in Chinatown in Seattle, a place that I know and went to often as a child. Hearing about all those familiar Seattle places and landmarks was a really nice nostalgic moment. I also could really relate to the Chinese family dynamics (and also they spoke Cantonese, not Mandarin!)
I also got really invested in the love story and I was really sad about how it all turned out. But it was bittersweet, as the book title implies, and I liked that there was maybe (in my head, at least) a hope for something more at the end of the book, or at least the renewal of a close friendship. I just had a lot of feelings about Henry and Keiko and their missed opportunities. Definitely a sweet and important book about a period of history that everyone should know about.
Show more
Touching story. Definitely worth a read. Glad I was able to share this one with so many people thanks to #worldbooknight
Show more
This story of a Chinese American youth in Seattle during WWII brings an interesting perspective to the idea of the other. Henry is reviled by Chinese children and 'white' children alike. His witness of the events following Pearl Harbor are poignant. And I enjoyed 'Snow falling on Cedars' more
Show more
I love a story told from a surprising point of view. This one deals with Japanese families who were "evacuated" after in 1942 from the West Coast. Except the story is told by 12-year-old Henry, the son of Chinese immigrants. An American himself, Henry's father is an ardent Chinese nationalist who hates the Japanese not for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but for their invasion of mainland China. Even a whiff of anything Japanese is forbidden in the house, so Henry has more than one big problem when he befriends and eventually falls in love with Keiko, whose family is inevitably evacuated to a camp in Idaho.
Unfortunately, this story needed a more polished teller. Ford flips his story back and forth from 1942, when Henry is 12, to 1986, when Henry is 56. Ordinarily, this is a great way to tell a story about what happened "back then" and how it has effected the present. But Henry's voice is just the same from the time he's 12 to the time he's 56, making his thoughts and feelings as a child more than a little unbelievable. Keiko also seems to have far too much perspective on what's happening to her family and in the world.
Added to that are the incredible anachronisms scattered throughout the book. Henry's son belongs to an online support group in 1986? The nursing home has a rear-projection TV? An editor should have picked up on these things. Admittedly, I got the book as an advance copy, so perhaps by the time the book is actually published some of these mistakes will have been fixed. At least I hope so, because they are so jarring as to make it difficult to get any actual enjoyment from this book.
Unfortunately, this story needed a more polished teller. Ford flips his story back and forth from 1942, when Henry is 12, to 1986, when Henry is 56. Ordinarily, this is a great way to tell a story about what happened "back then" and how it has effected the present. But Henry's voice is just the same from the time he's 12 to the time he's 56, making his thoughts and feelings as a child more than a little unbelievable. Keiko also seems to have far too much perspective on what's happening to her family and in the world.
Added to that are the incredible anachronisms scattered throughout the book. Henry's son belongs to an online support group in 1986? The nursing home has a rear-projection TV? An editor should have picked up on these things. Admittedly, I got the book as an advance copy, so perhaps by the time the book is actually published some of these mistakes will have been fixed. At least I hope so, because they are so jarring as to make it difficult to get any actual enjoyment from this book.
Show more
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.