I am not sure why my opinion on this book is so far off from everyone else I just did not care for it.

From the mother burying your child alive, giving another away where "he" will be raffled off at Seattle's World Fair. The brothels, rapes on ships and everything else just was not the book for me!

You be your own judge you may love it like so many others.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All of the feels with this one.

This is the story of Ernest, a half-Chinese orphan who made his way to the United States as a young boy under heartbreaking circumstances. He eventually "settles" into a boarding school and finds himself with the opportunity to attend the World's Fair. Little does Ernest know that he's actually being raffled off at the fair to the holder of the winning ticket. No one claims him as the prize at first, which adds insult to injury. When the winner finally comes forward, Ernest finds himself in the care of the madam of a popular brothel in Seattle. The inhabitants of the brothel end up becoming the closest thing to a family Ernest has ever had.

Ernest's story goes back and forth between the past and current day, which is over 50 years later. The secrets of his past are finally making their way out to the open.

Check this one out - it's a great read with many different emotions throughout. I'm looking forward to reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A meander through memories and a slice of Seattle history. Ford writes calmly and meaningfully and this novel is no exception. Recommend to historical fiction readers who want a calm story with no graphic descriptions..

An eye-opening look into a past society where certain people were viewed as commodities yet managed to retain their deep, ever hopeful humanity to create their own type of family and find love despite the overwhelming odds against them.

Two things draw me to Jamie Ford's books; in this too, Love and Other Consolation Prizes is similar to his other books. The first is that the books envelop the reader in their world - the sights, the sounds, the smells. I feel as if I am there experiencing the history. The other is his ability to draw sympathetic characters and to elicit that emotion. That keeps me engaged in the story. For that, I look forward to the next book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/12/love-and-other-consolation-prizes.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

Told between shifting storylines in the early 1900s and 1962, Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford follows Ernest, a half-Chinese boy auctioned off at the 1909 World Fair in Seattle.

Abandoned by his poor, starving mother when he was young, Ernest was taken from China to the United States and passed between benevolent benefactors until a self-proclaimed godly woman decided he should be the prize in a raffle. That’s when Ernest’s life truly began, as a servant boy in a high-end brothel, surrounded by beautiful women, rich men, and host of quirky characters, all trying to survive in a world that rejected them.

The story also plays out in 1962, with an aging Ernest struggling to care for his dementia-ridden wife, a woman he met when he was young and caught up in a love triangle. Going back and forth between 1962 and his time at the brothel where the triangle started, it isn’t until the end of the novel where we learn who his wife really is.

While the love triangle plays a big part in this novel, my favorite sections of story involve everything else. Starting at the beginning and the heartbreaking scene with Ernest’s mother, to his time on the boat making its way across the ocean, to the struggles of women in the early 1900s, to the sights and sounds of the fair, this is where the heart of the novel was for me. It would’ve been great to get more of this history through the past of minor characters and how they ended up at the brothel. That would’ve been more interesting to me than a love triangle.

Even though I didn’t love the love triangle, I still really enjoyed this book. Jamie Ford is really great at bringing history to life and he knows how to write good characters. I just liked his characters so much that I wanted to learn more about their histories, so I suppose that’s actually a compliment.

Another home run from Jamie Ford with "Love and Other Consolation Prizes"! I had a couple free hours Sat afternoon so I started reading, forget home cooked dinner kids order delivery, and kept reading until done! Totally engrossing story that will stay with you long after you put the book down!

It starts out pretty slow and took a little to get engaged in. Lovers of historical fiction will enjoy all the many details in this of the era and world's fair. I think Ford is a wonderful writer and I liked how he laid out the story of Ernest, Fahn and Maisie. But, had this story taken place without the background of the (what do I call it? Bordello?) it wouldn't have had as much appeal. It really is a solid book, yet I wanted a little less history and a little more of the trio's interactions. I wanted Ernest to stand up and fight for what he wanted rather than always just be resigned to his fate. Perhaps there is wisdom in that. Rarely do we get what we really want, yet we must learn to adapt to what do have.

Jamie Ford has an incredible talent for bringing moments of history to life with the utmost respect for humanity, frailty and emotion. Ernest Young was born in China - part Chinese, part American. As such, he was "less than" and had no place in Chinese society. His mother, alone and impoverished, searched for a way to give Ernest a future. The path that unfolds is like any life- scary, damaged, perfect, loving and simply real. The reader meets the children Ernest meets on his travels to America, the women who influence his entire life, the men who shape his understanding of humanity and in traveling with him, we see the beautiful story of a life. The story of Ernest's life falls primarily between two World's Fairs held in Seattle, grounding the Love and Other Consolation Prizes in a changing and growing city just as Ernest changes and grows. Beautifully written.

My thoughts:

Interesting plot and summary but not the book for me. Still enjoyed it but not my favorite book. The premise and the characters were interesting. It just fell flat for me and it was a struggle to get through. If you like historical fiction this book is for you. I love historical fiction a lot so it was not great that I did not like it.

Plot:

The story is set in two different times one in 1909 and the other is set in the 1960s. It revolves around Ernest who is a charity case who gets a wealthy sponsor who changes his life. He ends up living in a brothel living with a noturious madam. There he meets the daughter of the madam and a young Japanese girl. Both are going to change his life. It goes through his life and there are lots of flashbacks in the present part of the story.

Characters:

Ernest was an amazing character who I really liked. I loved the other characters as well. They added so much to the story.

LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES by New York Times bestselling author Jamie Ford (also wrote Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) is set primarily in Seattle and based on a true story. It begins near the turn of the century in China where a poor, half-Caucasian boy is sent by his Chinese mother to America and ends in 1962 where the now aged man reflects on his life. In between, there is the 1909 World's Fair (or Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition) where by then 12-year-old orphan Ernest Young is raffled off and goes home with Madam Flora to her brothel. As the new houseboy, he forms a family of sorts with Maisie, the madam's daughter, and with Fahn, the Japanese kitchen maid. Ford then moves back and forth in time to relate a complicated love story that spans more than 50 years – all the way to the Century 21 Exposition, another World's Fair that was held in Seattle from August to October, 1962.

LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES explores the exploitation of Asian immigrants, especially children, prostitution, temperance, women’s rights and political corruption. In his author’s notes, Ford asks, "Why did frontier cities in the West have the most successful suffrage campaigns while also being hot beds for vice?" That question, or the simpler contrasts between the social mores of the two time periods, will certainly intrigue readers looking for a potential Junior Theme idea.

For another tragic story about orphans, see BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate.

Starvation, human trafficking, prostitution, the past meets the present...Jamie Ford does a beautiful job combining these is a love story that is like none I have ever read. Ernest comes to America, but not the America most know or have read about. His America is a hard place but all that changes with a visit to Seattle's first world's fair. He leaves the fair and his old "new" life behind and becomes part of a large "family", takes his first ride in a motorcar and arrives at his new home, a four-story brick building at Washington Court. The splendor of his new home takes Ernest's breath away. French furniture, marble cherubs, freshly painted, unmarred rooms and lots of them, scents of perfume, tobacco and roasting food are all part of his new home. He realizes he isn't being adopted as a member of a real family, but is instead, the houseboy. Oddly, he finds this realization makes him hopeful. He leads an interesting life and finds love, twice. His story alternates from past to present, culminating in a not so expected ending. We know early on that Ernest eventually has a wife and children. What we have to read to find out is which love, if either, will Ernest choose?

Another wonderful novel from Mr. Ford about a time in history that I knew nothing about. He weaves a story about the Seattle World’s Fair and the brothels that occupied a part of Seattle’s past. I enjoyed the story of Eugene, Maisie and Fahn. An engaging story about how our past and present are intertwined.

Jamie Ford does it again with the poignant, sweet, historical novel based on the raffling off of a child during the Alaska Yukon Pacific world's fair in 1909. Yung/Ernest Young is a child brought over as an orphan from China when he is only 5 years old. He is shuffled from orphanages to boarding schools and never adopted since he is mixed-race (half Chinese, half Caucasian). We get to see Ernest's life from his golden years, as he interacts with his aging wife and grown daughters, and from his childhood, after he is raddled off and subsequently raised in the premier brothel of Seattle. The sense of place, characters, culture, and history, are all so well-developed in this novel. Recommended.

I started more than once in an attempt to get into this book but couldn't make it far. Have to say this is a Did Not Finish.

This is another winner from Jamie Ford. With a setting of the Seattle World's Fair, the action goes back and forth between 1909 and 1960, but the dual timelines are easy to follow and not distracting. It is an exciting, emotional, and sometimes enchanting tale of the life of a boy born to a Chinese mother and white father and his journey from China to the United States. The characters are so interesting that you quickly become invested in their lives, and the peek into the era of the early 1900's in the Tenderloin district of Seattle is fascinating. I liked the little touch of suspense and the small surprises tucked here and there in the unfolding of the story. Thanks to Netgalley for an early copy of the book for an unbiased review. This one does not disappoint!

I adore this book! The characters are so real that you feel they are part of your life. The time periods during the two World's Fairs in Seattle and the setting of the "red light district" of the city gives the story an unique atmosphere. Mr. Ford doesn't stop at writing unique historical fiction, he includes elements of truth into the story such as the raffle of Ernest to a good home. This book is definitely on my favorites list! Kudos, Mr. Ford!

Here is a review by Jennifer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2150861574

Excellent read, just like all the the others this tzlented author wrote