Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford

Title: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Book Jacket- In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown, It has been boarded up for decades, but now the owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.
This simple act takes Henry back to the 1940's when his world was a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who was obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American, While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Ranier Elementary, where white kids ignore him. Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcends the longs standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left with only the hope that the war will end and that their promise to each other will be kept.
Forty years later, Henry Lee, certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko, searches the hotel's dark, dusty basement for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long lost object who's value he cannot even begin to measure, Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice; words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.
Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope.

My Take: This book may just be the best one I have ever read and if you have been paying attention, I read a lot of books. The story was raw and beautifully written. Ford managed to tell an enduring love story without flowery pros and long winded descriptions. His way of writing Henry as a conflicted individual battling with what he wants (Keiko) and trying to remove himself from under the thumb of his strict Chinese father is brilliant. protracting Henry's struggles with the pre-conceived notion his son Marty carries about him and his nationalistic upbringing is the subtle undercurrent that colors the present set portions of the book. The supporting cast of characters doesn't fade into the background and by no means do they disappoint. Everything is wrapped in a nice, emotional bow at the end of the book. the reader will be left satisfied and touched by the tale of these star crossed lovers and the journey they take together that spans 285 pages, forty years, and numerous turns on an old record player.

Jamie Ford will defiantly be under this book worms eye for years to come.

Length- 285 Pages, About three days
Rating- 5 stars out of 5 stars. Go read this book, Now.