From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Jamie Ford

Start date: March 15, 2011

Finish date: April 15, 2011

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Lynn

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Jun 23, 2011 Ruth rated it it was ok

I'm old enough to remember WWII, and living in California, was aware of the Japanese internment. I never thought specifically of the racism between the Chinese and the Japanese in this country, but it seems an obvious outcome from the war once you stop to think about it.

This book could have been very, very good, with its exploration of prejudice, racism and first and second generation differences. I'm sure that if Ford continues to write, though, he'll look back at this book and cringe, it is so ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Patti Barber added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

This charming family/ first love story takes place in Seattle during WWII. A Chinese boy befriends a Japanese girl despite his father's hatred towards the Japanese. The story jumps between war years and 1980's taking the reader on a journey through the Japanese interment camps, family loyalty , first love, father/son relationships, and second chances.
As many of my friends know I truly enjoy historical fiction for I love to be transported into different time periods and to learn from the charact ...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

This historical fiction novel is well described within its own title. It is a bitter tale of what happened to Japenese Americans during World War II, and a sweet tale of the possiblities for second chances in life. The character of Henry and Keiko endear themselves to the reader by the end of the novel. I think their story will stick with me long after I have read their story for many reasons. I will take away a lot of things from this story, and wrote down some of my favorite quotes so that i w ...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Melissa rated it liked it

Shelves: america, constant-reader

Looking forward to the discussion on the Constant Reader board.

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2011 Laurel Bradshaw rated it liked it

Shelves: world-war-ii, daytimers-book-club, japanese-americans, audiobook

Description:
Outside the old Panama Hotel in Seattle, Henry Lee watches a crowd gathering as personal belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps are retrieved from the hotel's basement. Henry recalls his WWII prep school days at the exclusive Ranier Academy, where he developed an innocent love for a young Japanese student, Keiko. The sight of a parasol inspires in him a quest to uncover what became of Keiko and her family.
---------------------------------------------------- Description:
Outside the old Panama Hotel in Seattle, Henry Lee watches a crowd gathering as personal belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps are retrieved from the hotel's basement. Henry recalls his WWII prep school days at the exclusive Ranier Academy, where he developed an innocent love for a young Japanese student, Keiko. The sight of a parasol inspires in him a quest to uncover what became of Keiko and her family.
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Warning! Spoilers ahead! I really wanted to give this more than a 3 star rating, but I just can't justify it. It's a very nice story, and it had so much promise. The author clearly did a lot of research on the 1940s and the internment camps. But the scenes in 1986 were horribly anachronistic. 2006 would be more realistic, and Henry sure seemed to be portrayed as a lot older than 56. I kept waiting for Henry's reminiscences to end, and for him to decide to seek out his long lost love, and it never happened. The dual timeframe just wasn't handled very well. The childhood relationship should have ended when Keiko was sent away to the Japanese camp. I would have found it more believable for the parents to have intercepted letters at that point. And then the second half of the book should have been about Henry's search to find out what happened to her. Instead, the story kind of went off a cliff at that point. What 13-year old would get on a train by himself, and sneak into an internment camp to visit his girlfriend? A 17 or 18 year old maybe. There is no clear end to the relationship - they continue writing to each other - it just seems to peter out after several years, and as Henry says later "I let her go." At 15 (!) he has met Ethel and asked her to marry him. Fifteen? Really? So at the last chapter, we're still waiting for the older Henry to decide to do something after all these memories have been stirred up. His whole outlook on life seems to fit someone who's closer to 86 than 56. And then his son just hands him airline tickets and says, oh by the way, I went online and found her... in 1986. Right. And of course Keiko just happens to be a widow... and they all live happily ever after.

I did like the portrayal of the different cultures involved: Chinese, Japanese American, and African American. The jazz music angle and Henry's relationship with Sheldon added a lot to the story. Overall, I enjoyed it. I just think the plot devices could have been better handled. It also should have been marketed as a YA novel. ...more

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Oct 31, 2009 Kat (A Journey In Reading) rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-books, read-in-2010, kindle, historical-fiction

I really enjoyed this book. I have been reading a good bit of stories set in or dealing with WWII lately and this was an interesting perspective of things that happened here in the US to the Japanese that were actually Americans.

The story centers around Henry who is a Chinese-American living in Seattle during the "war years". Henry becomes friends with Keiko, a Japanese-American girl. Because of this friendship, Henry's father disowns him. The story really shows the similarities and the diffe ...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Mary Ellen rated it liked it

This is a sweet little book, a fast read, and a very palatable source of information on WWII-era Seattle and the internment of its Japanese-Americans. In some respects, it seemed more a Young Adult novel than one targeted at adults. On the down side: one can see several of its plot points coming a mile away, the characters are thinly drawn (and often do not "act their age") and the writing is uneven. But since its heart is so very much in the right place (while simultaneously on its sleeve), I g ...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Tamela rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

Hmmm...I read this a couple of months ago and must have forgotten to add it (thanks Sharon)
Great story, I didn't know enough about what happened in the NW so this was interesting. ...more

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