Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Introduction

It all started with an "I Am Chinese" button.

Say what?

Allow us to explain. See, Jamie Ford came up with the idea for his debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, from a story his father told about growing up during World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, his father wore an "I Am Chinese" pin so people wouldn't assume he was Japanese and attack or harass him (source).

Published in 2009, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a tale of first love and loss (hence the sweetness and the bitterness), revolving around a Chinese American boy named Henry Lee who grows up in the midst of World War II and falls in love with a Japanese American girl named Keiko Okabe. Get ready for lots of adolescent awkwardness and sweaty palms. Luckily for Henry, Keiko likes him back, so they agree to be an item. Alas, because of the war and Henry's prejudiced traditionalist father, our two lovebirds are torn apart and end up falling out of touch—despite the purity of their true love. Sigh.

Then the story fast-forwards to decades later, when Henry Lee is an old man with a grown son of his own. The discovery of belongings left behind by Japanese American families at the Panama Hotel brings on a rush of memories, and Henry embarks on a journey to look for Keiko again, hoping to right the past.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet explores the price of war and how everyday lives are affected by large-scale conflict—not even young love is safe. That said, without giving too much away, it's also a story about hope and the power of love. In short, it's the best of times and the worst of times for Henry and Keiko, and we get to experience it all without risking our own precious little hearts.

 

What is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet About and Why Should I Care?

Let's talk history.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet deals with a past event that we've heard about again and again—World War II. Everyone encounters this big old war in history books or during classroom lectures, but we don't often think about how warfare actually affects the lives of everyday people, particularly those living outside the line of fire.

Henry, Keiko, and their families aren't fighting in the war or otherwise directly involved, but their lives get turned upside down anyway due to the culture of fear—particularly around the internment of Japanese American citizens—and prejudice that runs rampant during the war. It's critical for readers to see the small- and large-scale impacts of war in order to really understand the human cost associated with warfare.

Why is this so important? Well, war doesn't seem to be going away any time soon—the locations and armies change, but war just keeps coming back. So while we opened by saying, "Let's talk history," what we really meant was let's talk about the present. Henry might come from the past, but he has plenty to teach modern readers.