Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Author; Jamie Ford – http://www.jamieford.com/
Publisher; Ballantine Books – http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345505347
There is a reason why this Novel keeps appearing in “Top 100″ charts; it is a gem. Amazon (today) ranks it at #72, and that’s quite a feat.
It attests to the quality of the writing, the story and the voice it is written in.
The flavor of the novel moves from romance to tragedy, from family to loneliness, childhood to adulthood and a touch of most everything else, delicately balanced. The Author has managed to bring the confusion of Internment to focus and still honestly illustrate its different facets. One shining sparkle is the courage that many of the American-Japanese showed during their imprisonment. Another brilliant sparkle is the compassion that many of the Americans showed despite the overwhelming pressure to despise them. By casting the main character as Chinese, Jamie Ford was able to showcase this diamond in the clearest light possible.
If none of this is of interest to you, consider the humanity and compassion of the characters, their fictional lives and the interweaving of one life with another. Here again, the Author delicately balances imaginary people with such finesse that they never step out of the realm of reality. There are no superheros and dastardly villans, just people making good and bad decisions, living with the consequences and doing their best. They are real.
If you still choose to pass this one by, please reconsider; it has earned its merits, not by aggressive marketing but by striving to be the best.
