Jamie Ford has done it again. The author of a couple of my all -time favorite books ( Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Songs of Willow Frost) once again provides his readers with a heartbreaking and compelling novel, inspired by the true story of a month old infant boy named Ernest raffled off as one of the prizes at the 1909 Seattle World's Fair.
In Ford’s imagining of the tale, Ernest Young is a twelve year old half-Chinese orphan. As a charity student at a local boarding school, Ernest is delighted when he is given the opportunity to go to the World's Fair, but once there he learns he is to be one of the prizes raffled off to “a good home”. The holder of the winning ticket is the glamorous and somewhat notorious madam of an upper-class brothel that caters to the rich and famous gentlemen of Seattle. It is in this unusual setting that Ernest finds the first true family he has ever known when becomes the new houseboy of the establishment.

Now some fifty years later Seattle is once again hosting the World’s Fair and Ernest is reminiscing about his life and the lives of those he met in those intervening years. As the narrative moves back and forth in time readers are introduced to a cast of vibrant characters who permeate and influence Ernest’s life.

Ford is a master at capturing the American scene in the early 20th century with a tale that runs the gamut of human emotions, foibles and prejudices with his tale of a man who faced all of life’ challenges and survived them all without ever losing his compassion and the ability to love.

This is an ideal choice for any book club since it offers a multitude of topics for in depth discussion.

Talk about a page turner! I finished in one sitting.

I knew that I had to read this one, once I saw that it was set in Seattle. I am a lover of the Pacific Northwest and I loved the dual history timeline in this book!. It is so wonderful that Ford honors his heritage in his writing. And this book was no exception. It began with young Ernest in China when he with his mother and then he was saved and brought to the states where he was auctioned off at the 1909 World's Fair or the Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.
Ford is such a master-full story teller. I felt like I was there along with Ernest as he went through the fair, the sounds, the smells, the tastes. And then in the time he lives at the Tenderloin, I could picture it's grandness and how the characters filled up the space.
The other half of the story set in 1962 is dealing with his "wife" Gracie, who is actually someone who is with him the whole time at the Tenderloin, dealing with her memory loss and illness. But she comes back to him and he is able to regal memories with her and with their two daughters.
I couldn't stop reading this novel and I came to love all the characters and how they shaped each other's lives. The only thing I wanted to know more of was how Gracie, adapted the name Gracie or Gracious, specifically when it happened. I don't want to give away who she is., so I won't say anymore than that.
I adored the characters and the setting and really enjoyed learning about all the history of those time periods. This is a great book for anyone who has liked Jamie Ford's other works and who love historical fiction with a sweet ending.

Ford's debut novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was one of my absolute favorite reads, not only of the year I read it but one I still think about and consider in my top reads of all time, so it was no wonder how crazy excited I got when I saw he had another release coming out and in the same vein as his first. I don't think I've ever hit a request button so quickly as I did for it. In fact I stalked Netgalley until it was available because I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I knew it was going to be something special, something emotional and something so worth my time and all the feels I would go through while experiencing it.

Ford knows how to weave a tale riddled with history and heartbreak, hope, and love unlike any other author out there. He truly is a master at what he does. It isn't often that one can make you crave history, romance, and a happily ever after, along with struggling and feeling right along with the characters. To be both sad and happy at once, along with heartbroken and angry for everything we put one another through as a people and as a country and as a nation.

His words are powerful in every way imaginable and it is so incredibly easy to get wrapped up in the story and the characters themselves until you are completely consumed by them and want nothing more than to see how it will all come together and wishing like crazy that there will be a happily ever after when all is said and done.

This story moved me. It touched my heart and rocked my world. The characters, the setting, the circumstances. I couldn't have asked for a more heart felt, emotional read. I loved every single minute of it and I didn't want it to end but at the same time, was eager to see how it would.

Once again Ford has exceeded all my expectations and once again touched my heart and soul with his beautifully written stories and unforgettable characters. This story will forever live on min my thoughts and memories.

Jamie Ford knocked it out of the park once again! I absolutely loved "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", and really enjoyed "Songs of Willow Frost". I knew I was in for a treat with "Love and Other Consolation Prizes". But it surpassed my highest expectations.
His use of multi-generational stories adds a depth to his characters that draws you in.
Are there any words of praise that have not been used a hundredfold already to describe Jamie Ford's books?
Sorrowful and sentimental, you find yourself immersed in Seattle in 1909 alongside Ernest as his story unfolds as a 12 year and then also 50 years later. The length the author goes to researching, his novels is impressive.truly appreciate learning a bit of history while being entertained..

I would have to say I liked this book but I wanted a little bit more out of it. I was definitely captivated by the story of Ernest and how he came to the states, and met and fell in love with both Maisie (I adore that name) and Fahn. It was interesting how that corresponded with the story of him nearly 60 years later with his wife who was starting to remember the past. I definitely didn't want to put the book down. However, I wanted MORE. I wanted a little more time in the early 1900s, learning about what else happened to all 3 of them. The book felt like it ended too abruptly, I wasn't ready for it to be over yet.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher

Jamie Ford's novel ought to be required reading for any YA author who is thinking (god forbid) of including a love triangle in their story. This is a tour-de-force of how to do it right if you must do it! Not that this is a YA novel by any means. This is a novel for grown-ups who appreciate intelligent and beautifully-written stories.

It was a charming historical story of an immigrant to North America, coming from a tragically impoverished background in China. It begins in about as depressing a manner as is possible, with a wretchedly poor and starving Chinese mother forced to suffocate her baby daughter and leave her son, appropriately named Yung (although in Chinese the name means brave or perpetual, both appropriate to the character), in a cemetery, for pick-up by an "importer" who transports Chinese children to the US and delivers them into servitude.

The story is told from two alternating perspectives, book-ended by world fairs, Both perspectives are held by the same person, who goes by Ernest despite this not being remotely like his Chinese name, which he takes as his surname, modifying it to Young. The 1902-1911 portion covers his early days traveling to the US and settling in Seattle, and the 1962 portion covers his twilight years where the love of his life is suffering senile dementia evidently brought on by a misspent youth. Here he is married with two intriguing daughters who are leading their own full lives. One of them is a reporter who is interested in his story, and it is this link which keeps us tied to his origins in the US.

I kept reading in reviews written by others that this is based on a true story, but no one goes into any detail as to exactly what it is that's true, so it felt like these reviews were merely parroting what others had written! Here, for the first time, it can be publicly revealed! The truth is that I can find no reference to the truth or consequences of this story on the author's blog which is, I am sorry to report, far more interested in promoting the book than in conveying anything of interest about its historicity, nor is there anything in the book itself to indicate what might have inspired it.

According to http://old.seattletimes.com/html/television/2010080063_kcts17.html there actually was a baby exhibition and one infant, apparently named Ernest, was offered in a raffle, but no one claimed the winning ticket, so the story of an eleven-year-old being raffled to a whore-house while very loosely rooted in real events, seems to be pure fiction.

The 'Author's Note' (which I typically never read anyway) in my ebook copy was blank, so it was of no use in illuminating the 'based on a true story angle'. This web page https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/2010/1/29/red-light-history-0210" reveals some details of Seattle's intriguing red light history, but in it, the Tenderloin seems to be the name of a district rather than the name of a specific house as is depicted in the book.

So my best guess (and this is only a guess) is that the truth of the story lies in that it depicts real events (such as world fairs and morality battles), but that none of the details of the Tenderloin (as a bordello), or Ernest, or Fahn or Maisie are true in the sense that they tell any real and specific person's story.

They are true in that god-awful things happened to people in those neighborhoods, but quite honestly this story rather whitewashes the sordid side of a working girl's life in depicting the elegant and refined 'House of Flora' while sweeping under the carpet the bleeding raw open nerveiendings of most imported children's truth in the prostitution business (and it was, and still is, a big business). It also makes no mention either, focused as it is on the Asian-American experience, of the American Indians who were also there.

That said, it does tell a fine tale of how some things might have been for those who got lucky. Ernest is raffled off from his orphanage and ends up at Madam Flora's Tenderloin house of pleasure, where heartbreakingly young prostitutes, most of whom we never get to know, are taught refinement and who 'come out' on their sixteenth birthday, their virginity sold to the highest bidder, whereinafter they take their place as a regular "Gibson Girl" purveying their skills to whichever rich and influential men select them for the night. There may well have been houses of this nature, but my guess is they were few and far between if they existed at all, and most of them were like the one we hear all-too-briefly about from one of the female characters.

But for this novel, that's not the point. The story is about one such fictional house where Ernest, for the first time in his life, paradoxically finds happiness and a family in the good-natured people who live and work there. He makes two close friends: the tomboyish Maisie, and the exotic Fahn, neither of whom is yet 'out'.

The trio bond charmingly, and despite the immorality pervading their every waking moment, they remain innocent between themselves, with nothing more than a stolen first kiss to count as a sin. Since we know from the 1962 portion of the story, that Ernest ends up with one of them, the question, and the author hides it well (or at least he did from me!), is which one, and what happens to the other one. I normally dislike flashbacks, but here they worked perfectly, and were integrated exceedingly-well with what I considered to be the main story set back at the turn of the century.

Since my blog is primarily about writing, I have to say that the writing in general here was very good - well-done and engrossing. There were some parts where it seemed to bog down a little, but overall it was great. I noticed only one or two writing oddities. The first was this phrase: "decked out in a dark black suit" I guess dark black is really black! LOL! "Decked out in a dark gray suit" would have sounded better, but that's a very minor quibble. The only other thing was that author seemed too enamored of this word form, because there were two other instances which felt wrong to me, where the word 'deckled' put in an appearance.

This actually is a word. A deckle is a book press used in hand-made books, and by association has come to describe the rough edge of the open side of the book. I hate those, as it happens because it makes it hard to turn the pages, but the author uses this word in the form of something being 'deckled' with lights and this seemed entirely wrong to me. Decked would have made more sense, or if he'd used deckled to describe the rough ocean surface rather than the lights on the boats floating on it, it would have made more sense. He uses the same word again when he writes, "fairy lights that deckled the storefronts." I think this was wrong, too, and arguably more wrong than the boat lights, but like I said, it's a minor quibble that reasonable people can disagree on if they wish!

That aside, I really liked this book - the way it was written, the pacing, the story, the relationships and the characters. No book is perfect by any means (especially not my own), but you really can't expect a better read than this, told elegantly, paced well, organized beautifully, and with a bitter-sweet tale to tell of a world where women are commodities and rich men can buy pretty much anything they want and it's considered normal, but sometimes if you want something enough, and you are willing to truly love it and bide your time, perhaps you can get it without your acquisition being sordid and demeaning and with it bringing you the Earth instead of costing it to you. I recommend it as a highly worthy read.

Once again Jamie Ford has created a wonderful work of historical fiction portraying the plight of the Asian American experience in the early twentieth century. Like his previous works, this book is actually two stories told in two different time periods - one in the past and one in more current times. Although in this novel the "present" is actually 1962. Both time periods involve the Seattle World's Fair and three people who were intricately connected that attended both fairs. It is the story of Ernest, Gracie and Maisie and how their lives were dramatically changed by the first Fair in 1909 when Ernest was actually raffled off as a prize. What follows is a sad but intriguing story that will keep you enthralled until the very end. And keep you guessing as to which girl actually ended up becoming Ernest's wife.
If you've read either of his previous works, you are sure to enjoy this one.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

I enjoyed Jamie Ford's previous novel "Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" so I was pleased to see he had a new book. It too is set in the Pacific Northwest and focuses on Asian immigrants in the early 1900s. Switching back and forth from 1902/1911 and 1962, it is a story of survival, love, strength and friendship among three individuals whose lives are entwined by circumstance.

I found it a little slow at the beginning, but overall a good read. (review posted on GoodReads)

[I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

Rating: 4/5 stars

This book pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the perfect mix of historical events, cultural diversity, sorrow and joy, solid writing, and a touching love story made this book a winner. The characters were well-developed; I really connected with them and rooted for them. I wanted to know that they had happy endings, that the dark times created something beautiful. The plot was well-paced too, and I found myself easily devouring the pages. I loved that the story affirmed that all things happen for a reason, that people and loving others are what matters most, and that good things can come out of bad situations and rock-bottom circumstances.

There were some great quotes too:

"We all have things we don't talk about . . . Even though more often than not, those are the things that make us who we are."

"There are people in our lives whom we love, and lose, and forever long for. They orbit our lives like Halley's Comet, crossing into our universe only once, or if we're lucky, twice in a lifetime. And when they do, they affect our gravity."

"My theory . . . is that the best, worse, happiest, saddest, scariest, and most memorable moments are all connected. Those are the important times, good and bad. The rest is just filler."

The book didn't earn a 5-star in my opinion because some of the situations seemed a little extreme or not realistic, as if the author forced the plot unnaturally to evoke an emotional response. I also felt like the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly and wasn't too realistic.

Overall, this novel wasn't easy to read (some of the content is mature and tragic), but I was glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a touching story with a multicultural and historical slant.

I loved this story set in Seattle in the dual time periods of the Alaska-Yukon Expo of the early 1900s and the World's Fair in 1962. As in Jamie Ford's earlier books, the protagonist is a young Chinese boy. The story is of Ernest Young's early abandonment by his mother and his ability to survive in the United States. It is also about enduring friendships and what constitutes a family. Though the history of Ernest and the others shipped from China to America is cruel and tragic, the story is ultimately uplifting and emotionally satisfying.

Another compelling story about the Asian-American experience from Jamie Ford! I particularly liked his use of two timelines in this novel, because as Ernest remembers his boyhood as a not-so-old man, the reader can see clearly that in the modern times of the 1960s, a past when orphaned immigrants would be raffled off was really not that distant. As usual, I found his work emotionally poignant, historically fascinating, and literarily solid. Definitely a must-read for historical fiction aficionados.

Just as good as On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. What an amazing story! So fun to read about Seattle, when I'm familiar with the city

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book, but I really enjoyed the story. It was well woven between the 1960s & the early 1900s around the two Seattle World's Fair Expos about a half Chinese/half Caucasian boy that had some horrific things happen to him (sold in China to someone from the US, shipped over, thrown overboard to drown but managed to get out, "adopted," etc.) in his youth. The story is told from his elderly self who is with Gracie & has two daughters. Juju (his journalist daughter) found out about him being raffled off at the first world's fair in Seattle. She wants to know his story. Gracie is struggling with her memories of that time period as well & hasn't been herself the last couple of years. It is worth reading this book to find out how their stories are intertwined & what a horrific thing was happening in our history. Highly recommend this book!

This book was so compelling in the beginning but slowly I found myself getting bored, as I knew what was going to happen (due to the back and forth between the present and the past). That being said, the author is a great writer but an underlying gripping plot was just not there.

Having thoroughly enjoyed reading Jamie Ford’s book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, I was excited to see that he has written a new novel.

The two world’s fairs in Seattle provide the back story in Love and Other Consolation Prizes. The 1962 Seattle world’s fair, Century 21 Exposition, affords Ernest, the narrator, a chance to reminisce about his life during the previous world’s fair, the 1909 Seattle World’s Fair, known as the Alaska Yukon Pacific Expo (AYPE). He recalls how, orphaned, he arrived in Seattle from China in 1902 at the age of five. In 1909 he was offered as the prize in one of the daily raffles at the fair. Hoping to be adopted into a family, Ernest learns that the winning sponsor is the madam of an infamous brothel, The Tenderloin, where Ernest ends up as the house boy. Surprisingly, his life significantly changes for the better through the friendships he makes at The Tenderloin, specifically his friendships with Fahn and Maisie. One of those two becomes his wife, Gracie, but we don’t find out which one it is until well into the story. The story smoothly moves back and forth from the present (1962) to the past, slowly letting us witness Ernest’s life story unfold. In the present, Gracie is now ill and losing her memories of her forty-plus years together with Ernest. Their journalist daughter, Juju, is the catalyst who triggers Gracie’s memories and we start to hear her perspective on those years.

There is a lot of Seattle history provided in the novel. In addition to the description of the AYPE, Love and Other Consolation Prizes provides the historical background about how prostitution was viewed in Seattle in the early 1900s and the forces that opposed the Red Light district and the assorted vices that were legally permitted there.

I found Love and Other Consolation Prizes to be a heartfelt and enjoyable read. The characters are very engaging and easy to relate to. Both Fahn and Maisie are strong, female protagonists and they serve as the perfect foil for Ernest’s more naïve character. Both a coming-of-age story and a romance. Well worth the read.

I received an advance copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Professional Reader

We all have things we would rather stay hidden, and Ernest Young is no exception. He and Gracie had worked to overcome their past, bought a home, and raised two daughters, Juju and Hanny. Gracie’s memory loss and chronic illness was keeping them apart, with Gracie living at Juju’s home while Ernest rented a room at The Publix in Seattle’s Chinatown. The buildup to the 1962 World’s Fair was fierce, with stories of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo in 1909 in all the papers. Juju, a local reporter, is told about a boy being raffled off, and asked Ernest about it. Ernest admits to being that boy, but is hesitant about revealing too much of his history, recognizing that Gracie may not want her story told.

The storyline alternates between the early 1900s and 1962, detailing Ernest’s earliest memories of waiting in the cemetery for his “uncle” to pick him up and take him to America. He meets a girl several years older, called Fahn, on the ship, but when they reach Seattle, the children are scattered, and Ernest is sent to a boarding school. His eventual rebellion is taken badly by his benefactor, Mrs. Irving, who then raffles him off as a prize at the Expo. The winning ticket is held by Madam Flora, the proprietor of the best sporting house in Seattle, and Ernest becomes her houseboy, where he meets up with Fahn again. Ernest, Fahn, and Maisie, Madam Flora’s younger sister, become close friends, but their friendship is torn apart when Maisie “comes of age” and the sporting house is shut down by the city.

Though I joke about the pioneers being considerably tougher than the people of today (myself included), this book clearly showed what your life might be like if you were unfortunate enough to be on your own in the early 1900s, with no money and limited job prospects. I love historical fiction, and this book, based on a true story, was fascinating, and I enjoyed every word.

I really enjoyed this book that was inspired by a true story involving an orphaned half-Chinese boy. I've always been drawn to stories involving orphans and their unique perspectives on life. One of the settings is the World's Fair in Seattle and I can't resist anything involving ferris wheels and space needles!

Ernest Young clings to his mother's hairpin, the only remnant he has to remind him of his mother who has given him away. He endures a horrific boat ride to America where he finds himself bounced from the poor house to a boarding school and eventually "the prize" in a raffle at the World's Fair. It sounds so sad and it is, but Ernest is someone who makes lemonade out of lemons (and he has plenty of lemons).

Thanks to Random House Books and Ballantine Publishing for the opportunity to read Love and Other Consolation Prizes, by Jamie Ford. As our main character, Ernest, tells his daughter, JuJu, "Parents always have a story that their children don't really know....I guess this is mine". His story leads us into the world of immigration, the World's Fair, suffragettes, brothels, and the courage and strength people had to survive during this time period. The characters have such strength and strong love for each other and the reader is carried away in the pathways of their lives. I really enjoyed this book.

I knew almost from the first page that this was going to be a very special book and it was. The author really makes you feel that you are actually there and can almost taste, smell or feel the various events. It is the rather strange story of a young half Chinese boy who comes from the poverty and starvation of China at the turn of the century to the US. He becomes the prize at a raffle at the 1909 Seattle World's fair and the story continues with his life as the Seattle World's Fair returns in 1962 as he is dealing with a wife with dementia and a life that has turned out quite differently than he might have hoped or wished for as a very young boy arriving from such an alien environment. Years later he can only remember his mother by her sweet smell - watermelon, mango and Bayberry, although he only learned years later that this is the scent of starvation. She sent him away to try to save him and indeed, he did survive. The story goes back and forth in time from a very different Seattle where he met another survivor of the same children's boat from China working in the same very elegant brothel to the Seattle of the later World's fair and all of Ernest's hopes, dreams, regrets and truths, many which he is reluctant to reveal to his children as he tells his tale. It is also the story of his wife Gracie, now suffering with significant dementia, and of her truths that should also be shared. It is also the story of Maisie, the young daughter of the woman who won Ernest at the early World's fair. It is a lovely story that really tells the tale of a very different Seattle not just in time but in feeling and I felt like I really learned a lot but also grew to love the three main characters. This is a very special book and I found myself wishing it would not end.

It actually evolves into a wonderful, very romantic story about love and choices. Choices can be very simple ones or very complex, difficult ones but often we can't begin to imagine just how these decisions can affect our lives. A seemingly tiny choice can occasionally have huge implications. It is also a story of memories hidden from the world and sometimes even from ourselves and secrets in general, sometimes kept from those we love the most. Every single line seems honest and sincere. This is a very interesting, compelling book.