March 2012 Debut of the Month. 40 years on, the discovery of a Japanese family's personal belongings stirs memories of an innocent first love. This New York Times best-seller has sold more than 1 million copies and been translated into 30 languages – but that is because it is a very special debut book. Beautifully and evocatively written this tender story of the power of love and the human heart will stay with you long after you finish it and is perfect for reading groups.
1986, The Panama Hotel The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War.
Click here see some of the locations that inspired this book.
Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago. WITH OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE, THIS CAPTIVATING DEBUT IS A STORY OF THE SACRIFICES ONE BOY MAKES FOR LOVE AND FOR HIS COUNTRY.
'Ford deftly pulls off a Hollywood-worthy romance from the files, one anchored to a true event. An entertaining and often illuminating tale' THE SPECATOR
Author
About Jamie Ford
Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated in 1865 from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco, where he adopted the Western name, “Ford.” Ford studied as an illustrator and found professional success as an art director and copywriter before turning his attention to fiction. An award-winning short story writer, his debut novel was inspired by the “I Am Chinese” button his father mentioned wearing as a child after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Ford wrote a short story about the button, which later became a chapter in the book. Now a New York Times bestseller, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been awarded the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and translated into thirty languages. Ford grew up near Seattle’s Chinatown, but now lives in Montana with his wife and children.
