Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Henry Lee: main character through which the story is told. He is an American of chinese descent, trying to fit in.
• Keiko Okabe: Main character - Female, second generation American, of Japanese descent.
• Sheldon Thomas: Henry's lifelong friend - a sax player with his own struggles, both with being African-American in the '40s and with breaking into the professional jazz scene in Seattle.
• Martin Lee: Henry and Ethel's son whom they called Marty.
• Chaz Preston: Neighborhood bully at Rainier Elementary.
• Mrs. Beatty: School lunchroom lady
• Samantha: Marty's fiancee
• Mr.Lee: Henry's father who is stubborn and strict Chinese nationalist
• Mrs Lee: Henry's mother who is kind and forgiving to Henry's ways, but bound to her husband's dictates by tradition.
• Ethel Lee, neé Chen: Henry's late wife; who died of lung cancer. Marty's mother.
• Oscar Holden: The great Jazz musician admired by Henry Lee
• Denny Brown: One of Chaz's bully friends, who shared flag duty
• Dr. Luke: One of the few Chinese doctors who had a practice on South King Street and still made house calls.
• Minnie: Sheldon's second wife
• Ms. Pettison: The most recent owner of the Panama Hotel
• Bud Long: Proprietor of Bud's Jazz Records
• Mr. Okabe: Keiko's sympathetic father.
• Mrs.Okabe: Keiko's mom. Caring towards Keiko and her brother
• Mrs. Walker: Henry's sixth grade class teacher
• Dr. Sun Yat-sen: Chinese leader.
• Jane S.: This is a poignant tale of relationships during wartime Japanese internment and the family struggles of Chinese and Japanese immigrants in Seattle, WA.
• Henry Lee: Stoic through hardships of family and school; devoted to his few best friends; ages gracefully with secrets to be revealed.
• Mr. Preston: Add a description of this character.
• Will Whitworth
• Mr. Toyama
• Marty Lee
• Carl Parks
• Clarence Ma

Quotes edit see section history

• “Oai deki te ureshii desu ....How are you today, beautiful?”

  Henry

• “If you walk out of that door now, you are no longer part of this family. You are no longer Chinese. You are not part of us anymore.”

  Henry's father

• “His father had said once that the hardest choices in life aren’t between what’s right and wrong but between what’s right and what’s best.”

• “My poor heart is sentimental/Not made of wood/I got it bad and that ain't good.”

  Duke Ellington, 1941

• “This was our promise of happiness, Henry thought. It's all I have left to give. This is so you can be happy without me.”

  Henry to Ethel.

• “All that remained were days filled with long, endless, hours and the plum tree he had tended to in his backyard, Grafted the night his son was born, from a Chinese tree in a Japanese garden, all those years ago.”

  Henry

• “...it has arrived a little damaged. Imperfect. But he didn't care, this was all he'd wanted. Something to hope for, and he'd found it. It didn't matter what condition it was in.”

  Henry

• “A reminder of a place where people didn't seem to care what you looked like, where you were born or where your family was from. When the music played, it didn't seem to make one lick of difference if your last name was Abernathy or Anjou, Kung or Kobayashi.”

  Henry

• “Unable to feel anger towards his dieing father. He wanted to feel it, but unlike his farther, he wouldn't allow himself be defined by hatred”

  Henry

• “You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, never more than right now.”

  Mr. Okabe

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• But choosing to lovingly care for her was like steering a plane into a mountain as gently as possible. The crash is imminent; it’s how you spend your time on the way down that counts.

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• His father had said once that the hardest choices in life aren’t between what’s right and what’s wrong but between what’s right and what’s best.

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• He’d do what he always did, find the sweet among the bitter.

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• He’d learned long ago: perfection isn’t what families are all about.

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• The candy was so that everyone leaving would taste sweetness—not bitter. The quarter was for buying more candy on the way home—a traditional token of lasting life and enduring happiness.

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• “I had my chance.” He said it, retiring from a lifetime of wanting. “I had my chance, and sometimes in life, there are no second chances. You look at what you have, not what you miss, and you move forward.”

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• It reminded him that time was short, but that beautiful endings could still be found at the end of cold, dreary days.

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• Precious things just seemed to go away, never to be had again.

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• Henry was learning that time apart has a way of creating distance—more than the mountains and time zone separating them. Real distance, the kind that makes you ache and stop wondering. Longing so bad that it begins to hurt to care so much.

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• Bud knew it. Inside, Henry knew it too. Some things just can’t be put back together. Some things can never be fixed. Two broken pieces can’t make a lot of anything anymore. But at least he had the broken pieces.

  Highlighted by 416 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Panama Hotel, Seattle, WA: old, boarded up landmark hotel that spurs story. Gateway between Seattle's Chinatown and Nihonmachi Japantown
• Rainier Elementary: all-white school where Henry is a scholarship student
• South King Street: where young Henry lives-in Canton Alley with his parents.
• Kobe Park/Nippon Kan Hall: Hillside park and thaatre in Japantown where Henry and Keiko spend time together
• Bud's Jazz Records: where Henry finds comfort throughout his life
• Lake View Cemetery: Where Henry's wife Ethel was buried.
• Black Elks Club: Black Jazz club where Oscar Holden plays, and Sheldon
• Camp Harmony: A Japanese Internment Camp located near Seattle
• Camp Minidoka: A Japanese Internment Camp located in rural Idaho
• Hearthstone Inn: A nursing home in Seattle
• Post Office on South King Street
• New York City
• Pike place market, Seattle, WA

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• baak gwai: "White Devil"
• chop: a stamp of one’s name
• domo: thank you
• issei: first generation of Japanese immigrants
• jook: thick rice soup mixed with preserved cabbage
• konichi-wa: hello; good day
• lai see: red “lucky money” envelope
• Nihonmachi: Japantown
• Nisei: second-generation American citizens of Japanese ancestry
• Oai deki te ureshii desu: How are you today, beautiful?
• Saang jan: stranger
• shoyu: soy sauce
• tamago: hard-boiled eggs
• tongs: gangs
• siu beng: baked sesame buns
• ume: plum tree whose flowers are the national flower of China

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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• Family Conflict: Between Henry and his father there is conflict- great misunderstandings based on a difference of what they saw as important in life, and where their lives should lead, who their friends and enemies were etc.
• Father-Son Relationship: The relationship between Henry and his father is an important theme in this book, as well as the one between him and his son Marty. Communication being the biggest symbol/obstacle. These are shaped by culture and time.
• Bitter and Sweet: After a Chinese funeral, attendees are given a peppermint to remember the sweet and hold back the bitter. Throughout the book one encounters bitterness in life, but there is hope that some sweetness will always come with the bitter.
• Starfire Lily/Cherry Blossoms: There is a running mention of the starfire lily throughout the novel in connection with Henry's mother and Ethel. It symbolizes an understanding and caring nature tying the women to Henry. However it is never associated with Keiko whom instead is linked with Cherry blossoms.
• Jazz Music: Music is a strong theme through the novel-showing similarities between Keiko and Henry, establishing Sheldon and Henry as best friends and symbolizing both relationships through music and a specific record. It is a connection through music that brings some of the characters together.
• Ume Tree: A Chinese tree from a Japanese garden. His father's favorite tree taken from Keiko and Henry's park.
• "I am Chinese" button: The button that Henry's father forces his son to where symbolizes part of the relationship between father and son as well as the importance of identity in the novel.
• Loyalty: Loyalty to one's family, to one's country, and to one's friends are all present in the novel, and were especially important during the war.
• Respect: In the Chinese culture it is traditional to respect and revere one's ancestors and elders. Respect for elders, country, family, and other cultures is found in the story.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jamie Ford (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (2010: Adult Fiction)
• Washington State Book Award (Finalist, 2010)
• Montana Book Award (2009)
• Borders Original Voices Selection (2009)
• Director's Mention, Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction (2009)
• BookBrowse Awards (Finalist, 2009)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3606.O737 H68
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

A coming of age story that will appeal to both young and mature readers.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States › Asian American
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• JamieFord.com

More Books Like This edit see section history