Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford; Ballantine Books, 2009

Reviewed by Claudia B. Wagner

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a moving story of generations; Henry, a Chinese boy, whose sweetheart--a Japanese girl--is relocated to an internment camp in 1942, and Henry's son, Marty, who helps him revisit those memories and put them to rest. It illustrates life and bittersweet first love during the early years of World War II in Seattle, Washington. Good reading for Northwesterners. Penelope Lively's Passing On is an understated, literate and enjoyable read of cross-generational influences. The main characters, Helen and Edward, have buried their domineering mother, and now begin to understand themselves and to live life more fully. I also enjoyed Under A Flaming Sky; The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894, by Daniel James Brown. This book is derived from eyewitness accounts and government documents of a range fire (combined with dry forests and drought) which took hundreds of lives, including the author's great grandfather. Of special interest--my own grandmother and great-grandparents survived this tragic event.