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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford  |
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Jamie Ford’s bestselling novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Ballantine, 2009) was released in paperback this month. This is a work of historical fiction set during the troubling times of World War II when Japanese Americans were rounded up and placed in internment camps. Amidst a tsunami of racial tension, a young boy and girl cross ethnic divides and find first love.
Peter Lee finds himself at 57 years old a widower with a lot of time on his hands. His wife, Ethel, of over thirty years died after a long battle with cancer. Peter was able to retire early from his job and spent the last few years taking care of Ethel full-time. During the past six months since Ethel’s death, Peter led a quiet existence, merely going through the motions of daily life.
Then one day Peter found himself caught up in a crowd standing outside the Panama Hotel in what used to be called Japantown when Peter was young. The breaking news that came out of that derelict building opened doors to possibilities Peter had closed decades ago.
Ford’s story takes place between two time periods: 1986 and the 1940s. He alternates between the two, slowly revealing Peter’s story rather than just a snapshot at one point in his character’s life. Ford isn’t completely adept at juggling the two. He seems to have gotten lost at times because he begins some side stories and doesn’t end them all.
Ford explores several kinds of relationships in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The main one is dynamics between father and son and Ford makes a very compelling story here. He compares Peter’s relationship with his father with Peter’s relationship with his son.
Relationships between members of different races also play a prominent role, particularly during the World War II time period. It’s a time when interracial marriages were illegal, segregation existed in parts of the country, and tension raged between all races that lived in Seattle, Washington of 1942. There was also a blanket of fear affecting everyone: fear of attack from the enemy.
When certain groups found a common enemy in another group, mob rule controlled all thoughts and emotions as people acted on their fears and were encouraged by the actions of others against those being blamed. Only the young and innocent could avoid the misconceptions of many of the adults around them and rise above the hate. This is the heart of Peter’s story and it’s where the title of the book is based on.
Overall, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is both heartwarming and an eye opener to a troubling time. It’s beautifully written and stirs up a wide range of emotions from remembering young love, commiserating about parental rules and expectations, to fearing the future when faced with hopelessness. One thing that should stand out is the attitudes and behaviors of the 1940s have largely disappeared from society and that lessons have been learned more than they’re acknowledged.
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