I love this book from a wonderful author. The story is poignant , painting a portrait of a family who is forced to face the past of the parents. It is well-paced and one feels the sense of place. I couldn't put it down.

Jamie Ford is one of those authors who magically transports readers to a time and place where readers' senses are fully engaged. Ford's unique settings begin in a poor barren part of China where a little boy is sold off by his mother, through a claustrophobic voyage to America, to stints in various charitable homes/schools. Ford's narrative really takes off when the young boy, Ernest, is raffled off at the Seattle Worlds Fair. The cacophany of the fairgrounds counterbalances the quiet little boy who is "won" by a woman of ill-repute, Madame Flora, who takes Ernest to her home (brothel) in the Tenderloin.

The characters, despite their professions, are mostly kind and generous who are in this life through few opportunities and fewer choices. Sold as children, they view their current status as far better than what they left behind. Madame Flora runs a rather high-class establishment and she insists on an education for her "upstairs girls."

Ford intersperses chapters from Ernest's childhood at the turn of the twentieth century with chapters from 1962. Seattle is hosting another world's fair and Ernest's grown daughter, Juju, a local reporter, is determined to write a story of the contrasting fairs. She quickly learns about Ernest as a raffle prize, but the truth has so many layers. Her mother, Gracie, suffering from dementia, has her own secrets from her youth in the Tenderloin. Is it time for the past to be exposed with all its tawdriness and loveliness?

Love, forgiveness, tolerance, understanding - these are just a few emotions on the roller coaster of Ernest and Gracie's life. Ford is a wonderful writer.

Intriguing story based on true fact. Gives the reader a finely crafted insight into a turbulent time in the history of the USA.
Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

You are a wonderful story teller. A very nice love story.

I loved reading this story. Heartbreaking, full of hope, despair & wishes all in one. I'm sure Henry & Gracie's stories are not unique to that time period, which makes the story even more endearing. A must read for anyone who has loved "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet"

As a huge fan of Jamie Ford's novel "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" I was thrilled to receive an early copy of the book, and it did not disappoint! This part of history was something I knew nothing about, and Ford perfectly blended the historical aspect with a heartwarming story. I never would have guessed I would find the occupants of a brothel so endearing and relatable!

Another wonderful novel from Ford. I was not disappointed by his second offering. He tells the story of Ernest, who is raffled off in Seattle in 1909 at the World Fair after being sold by his mother in China. He winds up at a brothel, all be it an upscale one, where he meets Maise and Fhan. These two very different girls both win his heart and Ernest finds himself trying to protect them both from the worst parts of the world they live in. We move back and forth from the days of Ernest's youth to 1962, when a new world fair is in Seattle and he is struggling to protect his wife's story.

Ford writes with such a beautiful style. The characters are immediately true, full embodiments of good, bad, and ultimately human.

I'm so very glad I got to read an advance copy of this book - thank you Net Galley!
Jamie Ford is a fabulous author. He weaves such a compelling story filled with characters with beautiful depth. The thing that kept this book from a 5 star rating from me was a bit of flimsiness in the older family life of Ernest and Gracie. There wasn't enough meat in it for me to know what Gracie's life had been like since their days at the Tenderloin, or their relationships to each other and as parents, with their daughters. I would have also loved to learn more about what the other main lady from Ernest's life had been doing and her perspective on the choices she made and how they played out.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes blew me away. I grew up outside Seattle and considered myself, at least before I read this book, fairly knowledgeable about Seattle history. Time and time again I had to stop reading to google something in the book to either find out more or to see if the event had actually occured in Seattle's history. I laughed at times, and I cried at times. I've talked to several people already about Love and Other Consolation Prizes. It is definitely a book that will stick with me for a long time.

The author of one of my favorite books, Hotel on the Corner of Biter and Sweet, Jamie Ford has written another captivating historical novel set in the Pacific Northwest. The chapters alternate between the early 20th century, around the time of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Well researched with compelling characters and a fascinating plot line, we follow the fate of Ernest Young, brought over as a child from China by what we would today call a human trafficker. The settings and characters are vividly described, and we learn how Ernest’s many unique experiences and secrets from his past shape the man he becomes. I absolutely could not put this book down—highly recommended!

Jamie Ford never disappoints me! His characters are compelling and the story evokes the time period accurately.

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