I just finished reading an advance copy of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a debut novel by Jamie Ford, which is being released later this month. I love reading debut novels (such promise), and I loved this book.In 1942, young Chinese American Henry Lee befriends the only other non-white student in his Seattle school, Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl. Anti-Japanese sentiments are running high, not only in the all-white school, but also in Henry's household. Keiko and her family are sent to an internment camp, and Henry tries, unsuccessfully, to keep their bond alive. When some belongings left behind by Japanese families sent to the camps are discovered in 1986 in an old, boarded up hotel, Henry, now a widower in his 50s, confronts the past and hopes to find something from his long-ago first love.
Family conflict, innocent love, forbidden attachments: like Romeo and Juliet, but with a better ending. This novel has book group written all over it, without being contrived.
I also love novels that have a connection to the author's own past. Read the book and check out the author's web site at www.jamieford.com to read about his own Chinese American history.
