Songs of Willow Frost: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From Jamie Ford, author of the beloved Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, comes a much-anticipated second novel. Set against the backdrop of Depression-era Seattle, Songs of Willow Frost is a powerful tale of two souls—a boy with dreams for his future and a woman escaping her haunted past—both seeking love, hope, and forgiveness.
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese American boy, has lived at Seattle’s Sacred Heart Orphanage ever since his mother’s listless body was carried away from their small apartment five years ago. On his birthday—or rather, the day the nuns designate as his birthday—William and the other orphans are taken to the historical Moore Theatre, where William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother, Liu Song.
Determined to find Willow and prove that his mother is still alive, William escapes from Sacred Heart with his friend Charlotte. The pair navigate the streets of Seattle, where they must not only survive but confront the mysteries of William’s past and his connection to the exotic film star. The story of Willow Frost, however, is far more complicated than the Hollywood fantasy William sees onscreen.
Shifting between the Great Depression and the 1920s, Songs of Willow Frost takes readers on an emotional journey of discovery. Jamie Ford’s sweeping novel will resonate with anyone who has ever longed for the comforts of family and a place to call home.
Praise for Songs of Willow Frost
“If you liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, you’re going to love Songs of Willow Frost. . . . tender, powerful, and deeply satisfying.”—Lisa Genova
“[A] poignant tale of lost and found love.”—Tampa Bay Times
“Arresting . . . [with] the kind of ending readers always hope for, but seldom get.”—The Dallas Morning News
“[An] achingly tender story . . . a tale of nuance and emotion.”—The Providence Journal
“Ford crafts [a] beautiful, tender tale of love transcending the sins people perpetrate on one another and shows how the strength of our primal relationships is the best part of our human nature.”—Great Falls Tribune
“Remarkable . . . likely to appeal to readers who enjoy the multi-generational novels of Amy Tan.”—Bookreporter
“Jamie Ford is a first-rate novelist, and with Songs of Willow Frost he takes a great leap forward and demonstrates the uncanny ability to move me to tears.”—Pat Conroy
“With vivid detail, Jamie Ford brings to life Seattle’s Chinatown during the Depression and chronicles the high price those desperate times exacted from an orphaned boy and the woman he believes is his mother. Songs of Willow Frost is about innocence and the loss of it, about longing, about the power of remembered love.”—Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank
“Ford’s boundless compassion for the human spirit, in all its strengths and weaknesses, makes him one of our most unique and compelling storytellers.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
From Jamie Ford, author of the beloved Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, comes a much-anticipated second novel. Set against the backdrop of Depression-era Seattle, Songs of Willow Frost is a powerful tale of two souls—a boy with dreams for his future and a woman escaping her haunted past—both seeking love, hope, and forgiveness.
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese American boy, has lived at Seattle’s Sacred Heart Orphanage ever since his mother’s listless body was carried away from their small apartment five years ago. On his birthday—or rather, the day the nuns designate as his birthday—William and the other orphans are taken to the historical Moore Theatre, where William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother, Liu Song.
Determined to find Willow and prove that his mother is still alive, William escapes from Sacred Heart with his friend Charlotte. The pair navigate the streets of Seattle, where they must not only survive but confront the mysteries of William’s past and his connection to the exotic film star. The story of Willow Frost, however, is far more complicated than the Hollywood fantasy William sees onscreen.
Shifting between the Great Depression and the 1920s, Songs of Willow Frost takes readers on an emotional journey of discovery. Jamie Ford’s sweeping novel will resonate with anyone who has ever longed for the comforts of family and a place to call home.
Praise for Songs of Willow Frost
“If you liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, you’re going to love Songs of Willow Frost. . . . tender, powerful, and deeply satisfying.”—Lisa Genova
“[A] poignant tale of lost and found love.”—Tampa Bay Times
“Arresting . . . [with] the kind of ending readers always hope for, but seldom get.”—The Dallas Morning News
“[An] achingly tender story . . . a tale of nuance and emotion.”—The Providence Journal
“Ford crafts [a] beautiful, tender tale of love transcending the sins people perpetrate on one another and shows how the strength of our primal relationships is the best part of our human nature.”—Great Falls Tribune
“Remarkable . . . likely to appeal to readers who enjoy the multi-generational novels of Amy Tan.”—Bookreporter
“Jamie Ford is a first-rate novelist, and with Songs of Willow Frost he takes a great leap forward and demonstrates the uncanny ability to move me to tears.”—Pat Conroy
“With vivid detail, Jamie Ford brings to life Seattle’s Chinatown during the Depression and chronicles the high price those desperate times exacted from an orphaned boy and the woman he believes is his mother. Songs of Willow Frost is about innocence and the loss of it, about longing, about the power of remembered love.”—Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank
“Ford’s boundless compassion for the human spirit, in all its strengths and weaknesses, makes him one of our most unique and compelling storytellers.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
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Community Reviews
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford is a gem among novels. I wasn't surprised at this as his debut novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet moved me to tears. In true fashion to his writing genre, Ford has created another masterpiece weaved with the intricacies of Chinese culture lost in American society.
Told from the perspective of William Eng, a a twelve year old boy living at the Sacred Heart Orphanage, the reader learns the true reason he calls the orphanage home. Five years prior, when William was just seven years old, his mother's lifeless body was carried away from a heart-broken bathtub. William has lived with the nuns ever since with the sincere feeling that his mother was still alive, and on his birthday - or the designated birthday by the nuns - William swears the woman he hears and sees singing at the movies is his ah-ma . Of course, no one really believes him, except his best friend Charlotte (and sometimes his other buddy Sunny), but William knows. He and Charlotte run away from the orphanage in an attempt to find Willow and help make William's life right again. What William finds is far more complex than the simple memories he'd created for himself.
This novel volleys between the 1920s and and 1950s (a reoccurring reading theme for me it seems) and traces the difficult circumstances for Chinese-Americans during The Great Depression and beyond. The characters are heart-warming and heart-breaking. I openly cried in several parts of the story as Ford created a world for me on the page that was as bleak as it must have been in the lives of the characters. His prose is flawless, his setting details phenomenal, and his story telling riveting, mysterious, powerful, and perfect. My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner.
An absolute "5-star" rating.
For more about Jamie Ford and his works, please visit his website at: http://jamieford.com
Told from the perspective of William Eng, a a twelve year old boy living at the Sacred Heart Orphanage, the reader learns the true reason he calls the orphanage home. Five years prior, when William was just seven years old, his mother's lifeless body was carried away from a heart-broken bathtub. William has lived with the nuns ever since with the sincere feeling that his mother was still alive, and on his birthday - or the designated birthday by the nuns - William swears the woman he hears and sees singing at the movies is his ah-ma . Of course, no one really believes him, except his best friend Charlotte (and sometimes his other buddy Sunny), but William knows. He and Charlotte run away from the orphanage in an attempt to find Willow and help make William's life right again. What William finds is far more complex than the simple memories he'd created for himself.
This novel volleys between the 1920s and and 1950s (a reoccurring reading theme for me it seems) and traces the difficult circumstances for Chinese-Americans during The Great Depression and beyond. The characters are heart-warming and heart-breaking. I openly cried in several parts of the story as Ford created a world for me on the page that was as bleak as it must have been in the lives of the characters. His prose is flawless, his setting details phenomenal, and his story telling riveting, mysterious, powerful, and perfect. My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner.
An absolute "5-star" rating.
For more about Jamie Ford and his works, please visit his website at: http://jamieford.com
I thought this book sounded interesting, and then one of my library patrons highly recommended it, so I brought it home. I loved this book, even though it was sad in many ways. I know that women and "foreigners" (Willow, our heroine, was actually born in the United States) were mistreated in many ways in the past, but reading about some of the actual realities of this mistreatment are just heartbreaking. The fact that Willow is considered an unfit mother for being unmarried and Chinese and her stepfather who raped her has a better claim to her son is truly appalling. I will need to search out Jamie Ford's first book.
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