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jacki_f 's review for:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
Henry is the 12 year old son of Chinese immigrants living in Seattle in 1942. His parents are desperate for him to assimilate into the American culture. They send him to an all-white school and insist on him speaking only English at home (even though they can barely understand him). The US is at war with Japan and Japanese immigrants are regarded with suspicion as potential spies. For this reason, Henry wears a badge declaring that he is Chinese, but even so he is regarded with distrust by most of his schoolmates. When a Japanese girl (Keiko) starts at the same school, she and Henry become friends and the relationship blossoms into romance. However Keiko's entire family is transferred to a prison camp and while we don't know what happens to them, we know that she and Henry lose touch and that he goes onto marry someone else. Many years later, he will be sharply reminded of her again.
This is a sweet story which is set against an interesting historical backdrop, but it never raised itself above "just okay" for me. I had problems accepting that this great romance could develop between 12 year olds and I disliked the way the author keeps spelling things out for us. Sentences like: "No one had thought (x) still existed, and it was found. Who knew what else he might find if he looked hard enough?". I found the story slow moving and it unfolds in a very predictable way, with no significant twists or surprises. It was one of those books that was easy to read, but which I never felt the slightest inclination to pick up or wondered what was going to happen.
This is a sweet story which is set against an interesting historical backdrop, but it never raised itself above "just okay" for me. I had problems accepting that this great romance could develop between 12 year olds and I disliked the way the author keeps spelling things out for us. Sentences like: "No one had thought (x) still existed, and it was found. Who knew what else he might find if he looked hard enough?". I found the story slow moving and it unfolds in a very predictable way, with no significant twists or surprises. It was one of those books that was easy to read, but which I never felt the slightest inclination to pick up or wondered what was going to happen.