Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2009

ISBN:: 978-0-345-50533-0

(2 reviews)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an historical novel by Jamie Ford. The story is told in two parallel storylines, one following 12-year-old Henry Lee's experiences during the Second World War, and the other depicting Henry 44 years later as a widower with a college-aged son. The plot centers around the forced evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps; the book depicts the pain and trauma of separation through the friendship of the Chinese-American Henry and his Japanese-American friend Keiko.

1 edition

crabbygirl reviewed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Review of 'Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

clumsily told, this apologetic novel tells the story of the Japanese interment during WWII and the especially caustic relationship between Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans that originated from their own countries' history. unfortunately, a lot of it reads like a history lesson (and perhaps its true that many Americans are ignorant of this time in their history) but I need no such primer.
as a love story, it baffled me that we were supposed to take the murmurings of 12 and 13 year olds as worthy of a lifetime's obsession.

GrandmaY

rated it

Dec. 19, 2016