Immerse yourself in the world of the red light district of Seattle in the early 20th Century. A young man, sold by his mother in China because she could not afford to keep him, finds himself the prize in a raffle at the Seattle World's Fair in 1909. The winning ticket belongs to Madam Florence Nettleton, whose brothel is filled with beautiful young women whom she is educating in the arts and sciences and elocution and proper manners. Ernest Young becomes the house boy, confidante, friend and student in this setting.

Tugging at his heart are Fahn, a maid in the house, and Maise, who turns out to be Madam Flora's daughter. Tangled relationships indeed.

Told in alternating chapters of present day and 1909, we're told that Ernest's wife is "Gracie", but we're deep into the storyline before we are told Gracie's real identity.

Beautifully, but powerfully, written, this is yet another example of Jamie Ford entertaining readers with stories of Chinese nationals.

I read this EARC courtesy of Net Galley and Random House pub date 09/12/17

On one level, Jamie Ford's novels can be characterized as sweet, sad, tender love stories, where the main character is Chinese or half Chinese . If you've read anything at all about Ford, you know that his grandfather was Chinese. I love that he honors his heritage with his stories. But his stories are more than sweet love stories and tributes to his background; they are stories of substance. They reflect the history and society of the times of which he writes. Prejudice, the importance of identity, fitting in, what family means, no matter how unconventional it may be at times. I wanted to read his latest book because I was so taken with his storytelling in his first two novels. I also remember reading or hearing an interview with Ford who talked about the seed for this story - the image of an orphan up for raffle at the 1909 world's fair in Seattle , the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition . If you check it out, you'll find that an infant named Ernest was indeed on raffle and Ford has imagined what the life of this child would be like after he, the prize is redeemed. Ernest in the novel is not an infant, but a young boy.

The novel begins in 1962 as Ernest is dealing with his wife's memory loss. The story moves seamlessly back and forth from the present to his past telling the story of how he and Gracie met. Ford has a way of taking you directly to where his characters are both in the time and place as well as easily connecting the reader with where there are emotionally. I felt as if I stepped inside the bowels of that ship with Yung in 1902 before he became Ernest, tasted the candy apple at the fair, and walked with him inside the parlor of The Temderloin brothel, feeling his grief as his mother gives him away not out of selfishness but out of love, and understanding his dilemma over the two girls he loves.

After arriving in the US , Ernest goes from being an orphan, sponsored in a private school to a house boy at a brothel, taken in by the Madame who won him in the raffle. You might not think a brothel is the best place for a young boy to be raised in, but for Ernest it's the best thing that could have happened to him after his harrowing young life when he was Yung and starving in China, before he became Ernest. It's here that he gets the safety and comfort that he hadn't known and here where he meets people who will change your definition of family and where his life changes . A benevolent Madam, the "Gibson Girls" of the house , a scullery maid who was the Japanese girl that Ernest met on the ship , Maisie , the secret daughter of Madame Flora and a cast of likable characters are part of Ernest's early story. Definitely recommended for fans of Jamie Ford's previous novels and to anyone who wants a glimpse of past times depicted by some wonderful characters I came to care about.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through NetGalley.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes looks back to the turn of the 20th Century and how minorities are immigrates were treated in stark detail.
Ernest is raffled off at the World's Fair after being sent abroad by his poor mother. A long way from China, alone and looking for his place in this world, Ernest is eager to fit in at The Tenderloin one of the elite brothers in Seattle. Here Ernest finds purpose, love and friendship as he get to know the women who work upstairs as well as servants in the household.
Ernest's story is moving and both happy and sad. The book follows the original events as well as Ernest of the future in the 1960s. This technique keeps readers guessing and excited to find out how the past directly relates to the future.
An engaging read, Jamie Ford weaves a tale of heart, redemption, and determination. Love and Other Consolation Prizes is s a book I would definitely reread.

I began this story with great expectations, and certainly the plot summary promised much. Why then is my review not more enthusiastic? Intellectually, I found this story of a period in American history when racism was rampant and corruption and hypocrisy manifested in equal measures to be fascinating. Students of U.S. history are well-schooled in discrimination against Blacks, but it was a revelation to me to see what Asians endured. The setting of the district in Seattle housing brothels and cribs was equally unfamiliar to me, and to read about the education of these young women and the cruel response to their situation by the high-minded ladies of society created an interesting conflict in the reader.
My one complaint, and it is a major one, is my inability to relate to the three main characters of the story. Ernest, the narrator, lives a life of unbelievable deprivation but hardly seems touched by it. He seems to float through the experiences with a sense of wonderment more likely in curious bystander.
The story is set in two time periods, each marked by a World's Fair. It is a clever technique and makes for some interesting comparisons. However the events of 1962 are not as well constructed as Ernest's youth, and what should have been a satisfying wrap-up of his story just sort of peters out. I wasn't quite clear what caused his wife's mental confusion or the much-too-neatly added cure. In fact I really didn't understand his relationship with his wife.
Undoubtedly it was the emotional deprivations of Ernest's childhood and youth that made him the stunted adult he became, but it kept me from fully engaging in his story.

I absolutely loved "The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter ans Sweet" and once again Jamie Ford has done it again. He made me fall in love with his new novel "Love and other Consolation Prizes". It is based on a real situation about an immigrant boy who is raffled off at the 1909 Seattle's World Fair.. This is a brilliantly written story about what love and devotion means.

In the early 1900's, people in China were starving and selling off their children not only to feed themselves, but in hope that their children would have a better life. One such child, who came to be known as 'Henry' is sold and put on a ship with several other children. He eventually lands in Washington state and after being shuttled around for a few years, he becomes a raffle prize at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific fair in Seattle. The winning ticket goes to the madam of an upscale brothel known as the Tenderloin. There Henry begins his real life education and forms lifelong bonds that are both heartbreaking and rewarding.

The story is told in a flashback format. In 1962, Henry is retired and his wife is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Their daughter Juju is a journalist and has only recently discovered the story about a Chinese boy being raffled off at the AYP fair and has suspicions it could be her father. When she questions her father about the story, he evades her at first, but then he starts to reminisce and so unfolds this tale of love, hardship, questionable morals, hypocrisy, and the will to triumph.

Jamie Ford knows how to pull the reader in and care about the characters he writes about. This one is a winner.

I loved this book! A heartbreakingly beautiful story of love, loyalty, and survival told against the backdrop of two World’s Fairs in Seattle: the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition of 1909 and the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Ernest, Fahn, and Maisie are three children who find their way to the Tenderloin - a high class brothel in Seattle’s red light district - in the early 1900s. Each has their own haunting back story but they are united by a strong drive to survive and a deep caring for each other. This is a coming of age story, told in alternating segments with Ernest’s story in 1962. The mood painted is wistful, a little sad, and replete with innocence slowly seeping away and being replaced by kindness, defiance, and determination.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the attention to detail Ford gives to the mood and surroundings of the two time periods. Events such as Halley’s Comet, the Panama Canal, the rights of women to vote, and the details of Seattle mayoral races and their impact on the moral structure of the city are sprinkled throughout the tale. Fans of literary fiction will enjoy the delicious writing which infuses mood and sentiment throughout a plot that describes historically accurate events and the impact on a diverse set of characters. Each character - from the primaries to the secondaries - are interesting, well drawn, and bring a unique perspective to the story. All and all a great read.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. I have previously read Jamie Ford's novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, so I was eager to read his latest story. Ford's novels are not the type of stories that you plunge into and read quickly. His stories are full of details and plot twists, and the story unfolds intentionally and slowly builds to a terrific ending. This story is bookended by the World's Fair which took place in Seattle. The first time the fair takes place we meet Ernest Young, who is about to be auctioned off to the owner of a locally famous brothel. At this brothel, Ernest meets the owner's daughter Maisey, and the kitchen help, Fahn. This story tells the relationship of these three lives as they grow together and apart over the next fifty years, finally reaching the powerful climax during the second time the World's Fair came to Seattle. This is a powerful story, with many diverse themes, which makes it a perfect book club selection.

Once again, Jamie Ford, has written an epic journey that stays with me, long after I finished the book. I loved Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Thinking that book would be hard to beat, I was thrilled to find I was wrong. The 1906 Seattle World's Fair, and the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, bookend this story about a boy who was raffled off at the first fair. As one character stated, life is about the good and the bad. Ford has brought to life all aspects of life, and the wonder of unconditional love. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to grasp hope in life.

As a huge Ford fan I was over the moon when I was approved for this ARC! Like all of his stories it tells the story of hidden historys of Seattle, this one in the 1909 and 1962 worlds fairs. Ford does a wonderful job balancing love, friendship, and even the horrors of our own history. Did we really raffle unwanted children off as basically slaves? I loved how this story jumped back and forth between Ernest's teenage years and his late 60s. You get to feel his emotions in the moment as well as how it still dwells in his soul so many years later. All in all another outstanding book from Jamie Ford!

This was a very interesting book, inspired by a true event at the Seattle World Fair . This story, goes between Yung's childhood in 1902, when Yung a five year old half breed, Part Chinese part white European, which would make him an outcast in both worlds, lived in dire poverty with his mother who could not make ends meet, and she tells him “Only two kinds of people in China, The rich and the too poor.” Then tells him to wait for his “Uncle” who is going to take him to America.
He leaves on a ship for Seattle, Washington, and after seven years there, and given the name Ernest Young, where he has gone through reformatories and boarding schools, always looking for a sense of family, but never finding it. Then in 1909 at the Seattle world fair, he is led to believe he is finally going to be adopted into a good family, but is instead given to the winning number of a raffle ticket. The winning ticket owner is a Madame Flora, who runs a high-class brothel, called the Tenderloin, and actually here he does find a family. He becomes good friends with Madame Flora's daughter Maisie and a maid Fahn who he actually had met on the boat to Seattle.
The other part of the story, which goes back and forth throughout the book takes place in 1962, with Ernest now and older man, Gracie and Margaret and Ernest's two grown daughters, Hanny and Juju, who want to find out more about their father and mothers past.
This story has a great story line and a lot of fun characters.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC copy of this book.

An achingly sad read based on a true story. Ernest Young, now in his his 60's recounts to his daughter Juju his tragic, poverty filled young life as a half Chinese orphan who was sold to the highest bidder at The World's Fair in Seattle 1909. His mother dying of starvation one day gives Ernest away to a man who bounds him on a ship to America where one day he finds himself being auctioned off to Madame Flora. Once settled in the Madame's house of ill repute Ernest begins to finally experience the safety that a family can bring and the first stirrings of love as he falls for Fahn and Maisie, the Madame's daughter. While he recounts his life he has also copes with the loss of his wife Gracie, though still alive she suffers the cruelty of dementia and harbors secrets of her own that have been kept from their children. A touching read, recommended.

Finding out the truth is hardly ever easy, This statement is illustrated more than once in Jamie Fords novel Love and Other Consolation Prizes. I think this book is extraordinarily well written and you really get involved in the lives of Ernest, Maisie and Fahn. It is disturbing to think of a child being raffled off, that slavery practices hadn't quite escaped from the collective social consciousness. The idea that prevails though is how strong Ernest is and the fact that he makes the best out of the family and home he is given. There isn't a legitimate definition anywhere of what a family HAS to be. In Love and Other Consolation Prizes we are lucky to witness another definition of family, strength of character and a book that will stay with the reader long after you read the last page.

Another good book by Jamie Ford. Really enjoyed this one!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of my favorite books so when I saw that Jamie Ford had another book coming out, I had to get it! Love and Other Consolation Prizes did not disappoint. Jamie Ford's ability to transport a reader to another place is magical. The background of the characters and the details of where the story is set always makes me feel like I know them and this book, of course, was no exception. I couldn't wait to see what happened to Ernest (I felt so bad for young Ernest that I wanted to adopt him!), Fahn, and Maisie. Such a good read!

I was very excited to have the opportunity to read Jamie Ford's newest book as I loved his first book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. And this book didn't disappoint! This is going to be a book everyone reads and I am already looking forward to his next book - I hope he is working on one!

From the very beginning it was an intense and engaging tale. I learned history and culture from the early 20th century that I had never heard before about Seattle and early Chinese immigrants. It created a colorful depiction of the early 1900s while telling a fascinating story. It is a fast read, entertaining and even contains some intrigue. I highly recommend this book and I thank NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

I love this book. It had me doing a ton of soul searching and trying to find out the capacity of human greed. Earnest was a kid and he started out rough but he made a way even though people counted him out he didn't count himself out. He was a great friend and I was glad he finally found his place In this Big wide world. He lost, then found, then lost, and found again. He never gave up and fought for what he knew to be right even in the circumstances he was given. He learned real quick that life comes at you fast and you had to prepared for it. He also learned how cold and heartless some people could be. This book really touched my heart. It helped me to see that no matter how dark it gets there is always a brighter day ahead. And the old saying is true. If you love something let it go, if it comes back to you it was meant to be.

I just had to read this as soon as I was approved for the ARC. I read “Songs of Willow Frost” and “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” and really enjoyed both of them, I was hoping this book was another winner. It is!!

One of the first really good historical fiction reads of 2017, the characters that Mr. Ford creates are so well developed, they are unique and yet relatable and believable. The novel is written between dual timelines.

The first introduction into the book starts with Ernest’s life and how his mother sold him because she couldn’t take care of him. He is boarded on a large ship destined for Seattle with many other boys and girls. Many of them ended up as servants or other unpaid help. The time is 1909 and Ernest ends up being raffled off at the Seattle World’s Fair, hard to believe but the author states this is true. The winning ticket holder is a Madame from the most well known house of ill repute and Ernest is treated very well. He gets to know the downstairs women, those that do the cleaning, cooking, etc. as well as the upstairs girls, those who are selling their sexual favors. He is very young and is very much influenced by this early life. Without giving away the plot I’ll just say that you should pay close attention to all of the characters because they may appear much later in the book.

The other viewpoint is once again in Seattle during the 1962 World’s Fair. Ernest is with “Gracie” and they have two daughters. Lately Gracie has been forgetful and somewhat remorseful and suffering bouts of melancholy. Ernest and the girls are trying to find out what they can do to help her through this. Again there is a lot going on here, one of their daughters is writing an article for a paper comparing the two World Fairs and she knows her parents met around that time. What she discovers as she researches and talks with her father is a revelation that neither of the girls saw coming.

The story unfolds at a steady pace and I enjoyed all of the details that were included about the World’s Fair which at that time was actually called “The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909”. There was so much new at the fair, incubators for premature babies, wireless phones and electricity used for so many new devices and an entire village with people from the Philippines.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well written historical fiction with some wonderful romance woven into it. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley

Will post to Amazon etc upon publication.

Although this book is a work of fiction, the settings are two historical periods bridged by the main characters: the 1909 World's Fair in Seattle, Washington and the 1962 World's Fair, also in Seattle. What happens to the main characters in between those two events is a history of the Pacific Northwest that may surprise some. Human trafficking and indentured servitude was alive and well the northern United States of America nearly 40 years after slavery was officially abolished. Dealing with this subject could have made this a grim read through and through, but it was actually uplifting in many ways. The author portrays the characters as real people with real emotions including happiness, "love, and other consolation prizes," which includes a prosperous lifestyle in spite of the unsavory source of that wealth. Although it's a bit heavy handed with the historical references and Seattle landmark name-dropping (something I personally don't care for, but other locals may get a kick out of) I would recommend it as an enjoyable way to get an education about this murky part of our history.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes (great title) takes place in Seattle at two World's Fairs, one in 1909 and one in 1962. The story follows Ernest, first as an orphan from China who is raffled off to a brothel at the World's Fair in 1909 and later as an adult with two daughters and an aging wife.

Through most of the book, we know that the wife is someone Ernest knew from his childhood, but not who she is, since her name changed at some point (which, if this was explained somewhere, I missed). I enjoyed this aspect, since sometimes knowing too much of what happens in the future can make the getting there not quite as fun. I loved the atmosphere in Seattle painted in the book, from the boat across the Pacific to the crowds of the World's Fair. I didn't know much about this time period, and I love when historical fiction opens up a new window for me.

Ford does a fantastic job of drawing you into the book and making you sympathize with the characters. I found Ernest, Fahn, and Maisie to be relatable characters whom I liked and rooted for. I also liked Ernest's daughters and the note of hope the book ended in, especially after all the difficulties Ernest faced. My only hesitation with this book- I wonder if it glamorized life in a brothel too much?

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!