Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford

"An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut that explores 

the age-old conflicts between father and son and the depths

and longing of deep-heart love"

~LISA SEE, bestselling author of Shanghai Girls

"Will make you linger on the final

pages, sure that even the bitterest memories

and the most painful regret can yield

something sweet"

~BookPage

The video below gives the a great overview of the novel

Unique Flow of the Novel

The books chapters smoothly transition from 1942 during WWII where Henry and Keiko are 12 and are best of friends to 1986 where Henry is middle-aged, his son is in college and getting married, his wife has passed away after a long battle with cancer, and Keiko had been forgotten for the past 40 years.

Characters of the Novel

• Henry Lee: the protagonist; a Chinese American. Keiko Okabe childhood friend/crush (who he eventually loses contact with after she is sent to an interment camp), and eventually marries a friend named Ethel and gives birth to his son, Marty Lee. Henry (age 12) is a determined young man in the novel and will do everything to be with Keiko, even go against his father's rules. After marrying Ethel and forgetting about Keiko for 40 years, he is not the same. He has put on weight, he is depressed, Ethel's now gone, and he is losing hope and faith. But his personality starts to change after the discovery at the Panama Hotel.

• Keiko Okabe: a Japanese American; Henry's childhood friend/crush who faces struggles being Japanese considering the situation during WWII. She is a very outgoing, likable character who appears to be care free despite what her family is going through. Like Henry, Keiko is determined and wants to spend every moment she can with him knowing their is a high risk she could be evacuated. She is eventually is sent to an internment camp (Camp Harmony) and slowly loses contact with Henry.
• Henry's Father: considered the antagonist in a way; he is a selfish father who cares more about the war than his own son. Henry develops a hatred towards him due to his selfish personality. He is very strict yet sends an confusing mixed message to Henry: whether to act Chinese of American. Henry makes sure his relation with Keiko is secret so he is unaware of the relationship.
• Marty Lee: Henry's chinese son. His fiance, Samantha, is caucasian; a similar relationship to Henry and Keiko's, only this time, it is acceptable due to their generation. He is a college student which makes Henry very proud because of the struggles in the past with education. After his mom's death (Ethel), his relationship with his father is strained due to the the loss. Although, they do reach out and help each other through these hard times. Marty and his fiance look through the Okabe's items in the Panama Hotel's basement.
• Sheldon: African-American saxophone player who befriends Henry at the beginning of the novel. Both him and Henry share a love of jazz music. Sheldon is a very generous and heartwarming guy who loves giving Henry advice about how to impress Keiko. He is one of the few adults that is completely aware of Henry and Keiko's relationship. He plays with Oscar Holden (a non-fictional jazz musician) at the Black Elk's Club near Chinatown. After Keiko is sent to an internment camp, Sheldon comes along and joins the quest to find Keiko.
• Ms. Beattie: The Rainier Elementary School lunch lady who develops a wonderful relationship with Henry and Keiko who work in the kitchen. She cares very much about Keiko and Henry and would hate to never see them again. She takes Henry to Camp Harmony everyday for a while until he is able to see Keiko.

Significant Things in the Novel

The Panama Hotel:  This hotel was considered "the gateway to Seattle's Nihonmachi Japantown." The novel starts off with a sea of people in front of this abandoned hotel where a great discovery has been made. The Japanese-owned hotel was shut down and abandoned after all of Nihonmachi was evacuated to internment camps. Before they were evacuated, the Japanese stored most if not all of their possessions in the basement of this hotel since they could only take what they could carry to Camp Harmony. The hotel is what rehashes the memories of Keiko from over 40 years ago which he had forgotten about after all this time.

Oscar Holden Record: This record was given to Henry as a gift from Keiko after they go to see Oscar and Sheldon at the Black Elks Club. Although the characters are fictional in the novel, Oscar Holden was non-fictional and was known as the father of jazz in Seattle. Henry absolutely treasured this record after Keiko is gone. Later, Henry dispossesses the record and has been has been his life long searching longing to find a copy of this record.

Keiko's Parasol: As the belongings are being gone through in the Panama Hotel, the new owner of the hotels stumbles upon Keiko's parasol. When Henry see's the man hold up the parasol, all the memories of Keiko hit him like a huge ocean wave. The hotel rekindled the flame with Keiko's memories but more specifically, it was the parasol Keiko loved.

"I Am Chinese" Button: Henry's father sends Henry where ever he goes to make sure people know that he is not Japanese. Henry is humiliated by the button as his peers tease him at school because of it. The button represents the father's mixed messages which are blending in with the Americans by going to an All-American school or being proud of being Chinese.

School Kitchen: The school kitchen is the place where Keiko and Henry first meet. Mrs. Beattie, the lunch lady, admires their hard work and becomes very close with them throughout the novel. The kitchen is one of the things that creates a strong bond between characters in the novel.

Sketchbook: Keiko's sketchbook was the one thing she would always carry around with her. She loved art and drawing and would draw multiple pictures of Henry. The sketchbook is later discovered amongst the Okabe's things in the hotel basement.

Jazz: Jazz is one of the biggest things that bonds Henry, Keiko, Sheldon, and Oscar Holden. Henry first meets Sheldon playing on the street and eventually becomes very close with him. Keiko also has an interest in jazz bringing her and Sheldon together. And Sheldon introduces them to Oscar Holden since they play together. So jazz plays a huge role of bonding in this novel.

History of the Panama Hotel

& Internment Camps

Photos

Event though the characters are fictional, the general story is non-fictional. Here are some pictures from real pictures of the Japanese and evacuation.

Nihonmanchi boarded up after Japanese are evacuated

Japanese girl waiting to be taken to camp

I don't think there's a need for a caption

Oscar Holden; a non-fictional character in the novel,
known as the father of jazz in Seattle

The Panama Hotel