Jamie Ford

When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered in Seattle, Henry Lee embarks on a quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment.

A Novel

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

a novel

Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet

Aina

His father had said once that the hardest choices in life aren't between what’s right and what’s wrong but between what's right and what's best. The best thing was to let her go.

Feelings can only be hidden so long from those who really pay attention.

“You just gave me hope, Henry.” Mr. Okabe shook Henry's small hand and looked him in the eye. "And sometimes hope is enough to get you through anything."

I try not to live in the past, he thought, but who knows, sometimes the past lives in me.

Peggy Walker

I really loved this book. I've always been fascinated (in a horrified kind of way) by the stories from the Japanese Internment camps. I think I was completely oblivious until college when I met someone researching the stories. I have since discovered that some older friends lived there as very young children. I thought the story was beautifully told, and I would definitely recommend it.

Karis Ryu

I began reading this book after hearing a lot of enthusiastic praise for it from others, and at first, I didn't quite see the magic of it. It was a good story, but the pacing felt too slow and the writing more on the "telling" side than the "showing" side. Overall, the narrative seemed to drag, but I did want to read on.

The book REALLY PULLS THROUGH in the second half. The symbols, both tangible and intangible, from human relationships to vinyl records, are potent in how they hold the story together. The history of Japanese internment, World War II, and racism in the 1940s is up close and painful in its reality. Hearts are thrown open, beautiful in their imperfections. Unlikely pieces push Henry forward. Henry is so openly honest, passionate, and vulnerable that you can't help but feel for him, and his inner struggle with his parents, his nation, his culture, his adolescence, and this new, confusing, terrifying experience called love is a slow development but a powerful one.

It does take a while to see the novel truly unfold, but it is worth it.

A beautiful book that keeps you wanting to know what is to come next. 

lucy lou

A chance discovery in boarded up old hotel brings back long forgotten memories and rekindles a forbidden love, swept aside during the chaos and heartbreak World War II and internment of Japanese families in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Charlotte 

A book with a title that contains salty, sweet, bitter or spicy ✔

Nadine 

Think it is an excellent book for YA readers.

Melody Izard

My first experience with an e-book.
A sweet story. Felt like it was written for someone who didn't like to read.

Morgana

** spoiler alert **
           Non credevo che questo libro mi sarebbe piaciuto così tanto. 
Henry come protagonista mi è piaciuto tantissimo, con le sue incertezze ed imperfezioni, con i dubbi e tutto il resto. Il suo rapporto con il padre è un pò assurdo, ma anche se il padre insiste nel dire anche morente che ha fatto tutto per lui, mente. Ha fatto tutto per se stesso, è ovvio. Come si può amare qualcosa più del proprio figlio? Come ha potuto, per un'idea di nazionalismo, sacrificare la felicità del figlio? Carino l'incontro con Ethel, anche se avevo capito immediatamente che la ragazza delle poste doveva essere lei, aveva decisamente troppo spazio nella storia e Sheldon.. beh lui era semplicemente il miglior personaggio della storia.

Annelies Van Rossen

Pro: mooi liefdesverhaal, vaderrelatie onderzocht en in vraag gesteld, goede vriendschappen, een belangrijk perspectief op de effecten na Pearl Harbor, wissel tussen heden en verleden

Con: hoofdpersonage kwam met veel weg, ondanks strenge, stricte ouders

Dit was een prachtig boek. Het veroordeelt niemand, het toont gewoon hoe dingen waren in die tijd. Het toont hoe chinese families waren, hoe er spanning tussen Chinezen en Japanezen waren en hoe mensen schrik hebben voor dingen die onbekend zijn. Aan te raden!

Amber Laha

Overall, I enjoyed the story of Henry and Keiko's relationship in conjunction to the Japanese-Americans being put in concentration camps and how it affected their relationship-for Henry was Chinese and Keiko was Japanese. I felt that this book could have been a bit longer. I felt that we never got enough of their relationship, and though you could understand why and how their relationship developed so you never really saw it develop to that point. The same went with Henry and his son, Marty. We were told how their relationship was like, but we never really saw it[just a side note, Marty was so freaking annoying]. Also, there was the whole Chinese-Japanese issue that could have been developed. We could see on the surface that Henry had to be dealing with identity issues because of how Nationalistic his Chinese father was and how he never actually let China. On the opposite side, Henry was born in America and he was getting told different things-"you're Chinese"-"You're American"-and that had to bring confusion to him. He even had those questions, but it really was never developed. We never see how he found his own standing in life. There were multiple things going and I felt things just were left too open-ended.

Ella Williams

Ethan Dorn

‘You just gave me hope, Henry. And sometimes hope is enough to get you through anything’ 1986, The Panama Hotel The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago. With over a million copies sold worldwide, this captivating debut is a story of the sacrifices one boy makes for love and for his country.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet A Novel

Reviews

Highlights