I love books by Jamie Ford and this one is no different.

We follow the story of a half Chinese orphan boy from the early 1900's to the early 1960's. This story is filled with a lot of heartache, loneliness and love.

My thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine Books for this advanced readers copy.

No one does historic Seattle like Jamie Ford, and Love and Other Consolation Prizes is one more example of Ford's beautiful writing and attention to detail. Moving back and forth between the early 1900's and 1962, Ford explores yet another part of the history of Asian immigrants in the Seattle area. His research into the area and eras is outstanding, as is his attention to detail in his lyrical descriptions of the two World Fairs that form the background of the story.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a truly lovely look at memories, connections, and the complicated ways in which families are formed.

We meet Ernest as an adult in 1969, as the World's Fair (with its brand-spanking-new Space Needle) is getting underway in Seattle. Ernest is living apart from his beloved wife Gracie because of a disorder that has stolen most of her memories and leaves her highly agitated whenever Ernest is around. As he sees the city preparing for the spectacle of the World's Fair, he's brought back to his memories of 1909, when he fell in love with two very different girls during a visit to the Alaska Yukon Pacific Expo, held at the very same place.

Ernest's earliest memories are horrific -- his life as a starving child in China whose mother gives him away because she knows she can't care for him. He's basically sold as chattel and carted across the sea to America, where he moves through a succession of charity homes and schools, always an outsider due to his interracial heritage. Equally horrible is the way in which his patron offers him off as a raffle prize, a humiliating experience for Ernest which ultimately leads to the happiest years of his life. As a 12-year-old servant in the Tenderloin brothel, he's treated kindly and given a home, surrounded by the upstairs girls and the servants, all of whom shower him with love and make him feel for the very first time as if he truly belongs.

At the Tenderloin, he forms a deep attachment to both Fahn, a Japanese girl a few years older than him who works as a servant, and Maisie, the tomboy daughter of the house madam who seems destined to follow in her mother's footsteps. The three of them form a tight-knit unit, and stick together through unexpected changes to their happy home.

Author Jamie Ford keeps us guessing until close to the end. We know that Ernest loved both girls as a young boy, and that he ended up married to one, but he manages to avoid revealing the answer without any unnecessary gimmicks. It works; both girls love Ernest and have special relationships with him. We can tell how much they all care for one another, with the purity of an adolescent friendship that hasn't bloomed into outright romance.

Mixed in with Ernest's memories of the early 20th century are scenes from 1969, as he begins to share pieces of his past with his grown daughter, revealing his own secrets but wanting to preserve his wife's. As the novel progresses, the entire family is changed by some of the truths that begin to be revealed.

He drew a deep breath. Memories are narcotic, he thought. Like the array of pill bottles that sit cluttered on my nightstand. Each dose, carefully administred, use as directed. Too much and they become dangerous. Too much and they'll stop your heart.


The writing in Love and Other Consolation Prizes is beautiful. Through rich descriptions, we get a true sense of Seattle in the early 20th century, with the flavors of its neighborhoods, the personalities and politics of its citizens, and the diversity and tensions springing from so many different people living in such close proximity to one another.

The descriptions of Ernest's time at the Tenderloin really shine. The brothel isn't tawdry; it's an upscale establishment, frequented by the upper crust of Seattle society, with girls who receive dance, elocution, and Latin lessons in order to be able to entertain and converse intelligently with the clientele. The people of the Tenderloin are a family, and it's only Madam Flora's illness that brings an end to the idyllic days there.

Likewise, the more horrible aspects of Ernest's past -- the memories from China and the sea journey, especially -- are painted for us in language evocative of the experiences as they would have been felt and remembered by a child. These sections of the book are upsetting and feel quite real, but since we know from the start that Ernest survived and ultimately thrived, the bad parts never overwhelm the more upbeat parts of the story.

I highly recommend Love and Other Consolation Prizes. As historical fiction, it succeeds in bringing the reader into the world of Seattle in both 1909 and 1969, tied together nicely by the World's Fair at each of these two times. And as a story of human relationships and the complications of love, it simply shines. Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a gorgeously written book that tells a fascinating tale, and in my opinion, is one of 2017's must-reads.

This is the first time I have read anything by Jamie Ford but I plan to change this pretty quickly. This book has so many layers to it that I am not sure how to begin. It is a romance, a drama, and a glimpse into American history in the early 1900's. The book is based on the true story of a boy named Ernest who was raffled off at the 1909 World's Fair.

The story starts with a 5 year old half Chinese boy witnessing his mother commit a truly violent act. The boy and his mother are starving. She wants to give her son the chance to have a better life so she sends him to America with a group of human traffickers/slave traders. Ernest finds himself on a boat with other Chinese and Japanese boys and girls on their way to be mail order brides, laborers, and some other very unsavory positions. He meets the first girl he will ever love on this boat. Once in Washington, Ernest finds himself bouncing from 1 boarding house to another. He has a benefactor at his last boarding house and he decides that he should ask her if he can be released to make his own way in the world. She has other plans and Ernest finds himself at the 1909 World's Fair being raffled off like some sort of prize. He is taken in by a madame at a very high end brothel in the red light district. Ernest begins to embrace and even love his new life as a driver for the house. He also has 2 girls that he has fallen deeply in love with. Ernest, Fahn, and Maisie form an unbreakable bond that helps them navigate through some pretty tough scenarios.

This book is so well written that the reader begins to feel what the characters do as the author tackles tough subjects like human trafficking, physical abuse, mental illness, and prostitution. The chapters are set up so that each one just about is set in a different time period ranging from Ernest in the present (1960's) to Ernest in his childhood/teenage years (1900's). The fact that a lot of places and events in the book are real as well as the overall treatment of immigrants speaks volumes on the American mindset at the time. I enjoyed this book very much. I actually plan to add a physical copy to my bookcase.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel, more so than his last one. I found the characters really well developed, both engaging and realistic, and the story itself was well done. The historical setting really came alive for me with his writing. The story moves between two time periods - early 1900 and then the 1960's, but it's done well and the transitions help move the story along. It's always interesting to read what was acceptable at different times in history - imagine trying to auction off an orphan in current times! Even though I didn't enjoy Ford's second novel as much as his others, after this one I will definitely look for more from him.

I am voluntarily submitting my honest review after receiving an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley.

Since reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, I have had high expectations of Jamie Ford. His latest novel, Love and Other Consolation Prizes, delivers in a big way. Ford masterfully weaves together the story of two young immigrants in the US at the time of the 1910 World's Fair with their twilight years at the time of the 1962 World's Fair. From despair and moral outrage to joy and triumph, this book inspires a range of emotions, but overall, it is a heartwarming and uplifting read while remaining dutifully cognizant of the injustices and hypocrisy of the society and time period of the setting. This is a must read for fans of historical fiction, as well as fans of women's fiction.

I am never let down by the writing of Jamie Ford. I loved Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet and I loved this new book. No emotion is left unfelt and remnant thoughts of characters stayed with me long after the back cover closed.

The Chinese Exclusion Act(s) were aimed at curbing Chinese immigration into this country. In light of today’s ant-immigrant sentiments, this is well worth reading. A chilling look at our discriminatory past that still haunts us.

Leaving your mother at age five, going with a stranger, and living in the bowels of a boat to America was not something anyone would wish for a child but what was done back in 1909.

Yung had to leave his mother because they both were starving, and her hope was for a better life for her son.

When Yung got to America, his name was changed to Ernest, and he spent his first few years at a school where he was always the underling even though a rich woman, Mrs. Irvine, was paying for his room and board.

One day Mrs. Irvine told Ernest she was taking him to the World's Fair. She didn't take him to enjoy it, but to be auctioned off in a raffle as a strong, healthy boy.

Ernest ended up being won by the owner of a brothel as a houseboy, and the place he met his wife.

Now his childhood and his life before children and marriage were coming to light. His daughter is a reporter and is investigating the World's Fair and stories she heard about those who attended. She knew her father had been there and wants to know everything.

Ernest didn't want to tell his daughter his story because then she would find out about her mother's life at that time. It was a life that wasn't anything to be proud of. Gracie was now suffering from dementia, and Ernest was hoping she wouldn't accidentally remember the life she led when she was young and tell her daughter.

We follow Ernest from his childhood to present day and learn what life was like for him in both times. We get a well-researched glimpse into everyday living during the early 1900’s as well as the life in a brothel.

LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES is another marvelous, stunning, beautifully told story by Jamie Ford with characters that will steal your heart.

Mr. Ford knows how to tell a story and keep your interest with his meticulous historical research, his history lesson, and his superb writing style.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - I hope you are able to also read it. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and Net Galley in return for an honest review.

This is another well done historical fiction by Jamie Ford. In 1962, the World's Fair is in Seattle. Earnest, in his mid 60s, is looking back on his life. His wife is suffering from a rare form of dementia. Like Ford’s other books, this one focuses on Americans of Chinese descent and employs a back and forth narrative between two different times.

Ford draws you into his story immediately. It's always a bit of a shock what was considered acceptable in the old days. Raffling off a child at the 1909 World’s Fair with the President pulling the winning ticket? No problem. And in case you doubt it could really happen, this episode is based on a true story.

Ford definitely has a gift. He manages to combine a winning story with amazing characters. This story describes how a family can be formed anywhere and love does triumph. Ford describes how limited the choices are for those in the Tenderloin and how necessity makes it easy to trump virtue. As Earnest says “he was caught up in the blatant, unrepentant honesty of the Tenderloin- as naked and bare as the girls upstairs”.

Ford tugs at your heartstrings. Earnest is determined to keep his wife’s background hidden, even from their prying reporter daughter. This, despite the fact his wife barely knows who he is most days.

It's been awhile since I've seen the movie, but a large part of the book put me in mind of Pretty Baby. And I could see this book being turned into a movie as well.

My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Jamie Ford has produced another readable story that will be book club gold with Love and Other Consolation Prizes. Ernest's story of finding home, family, and love after a difficult start in Seattle is by turns heartbreaking and sweet. He's fiercely protective and loyal to those who give him a home, and his devotion shows in the scenes that take place in his later years as he is confronted with his history (and that of his wife) by his journalist daughter. Jamie Ford excels at writing historical fiction with heart, crafting characters that are deeply intriguing and vividly described places. This was a pleasure to read.

Jamie Ford certainly has another winner with this one! Beautifully written historical novel tells the story of Ernest, a Chinese orphan who is raffled off at the Seattle World's Fair in 1909 to the Madame of a well-know brothel as a house boy. While living and working there, Ernest meets and falls for two women - Maisie, the Madame's daughter, and Fahn, one of the servants.

The story is not only a historical fiction romance, it is a commentary on the times. Morality, religion, lifestyles, are all wrapped up with this story reflecting on the period and shading the characters. The characters are lovely and well-developed. It's a great story!

Thanks to Jamie Ford and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If I were to give a one-word description of the feel of this book, I'd probably say "nostalgic". We follow Ernest Young back to his past, as he is sent from China to America on basically a slave ship, rescued, and eventually auctioned to a brothel. Several times I looked up some of the historical events on Google and learned that they (or something very similar) really happened - incredible. Seattle at the turn of the century was quite an interesting place! Ernest was a great character. He was tender and kind, and his friendships and family will stick with me. 4.5 stars.

“There are people in our lives whom we love, and lose, and forever long for. They orbit our hearts 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.”

I loved The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Songs of Willow Frost’, so I was thrilled to snag an ARC Jaime Ford’s latest novel Love and Other Consolation Prizes. Once again Seattle is the vivid backdrop for the tale that travels between the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition in 1909 and the World's Fair of 1962. Three rich characters take the reader on a journey that pulls at your heartstrings. How coming-of-age choices impact a lifetime. Complete with love and intrigue, this expertly written historical fiction shines light on a little-known period in time. Read this book - your heart will thank you.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Jamie Ford has a formula, and it works for him. If you loved "The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", you'll enjoy this book. If you're looking for something more -- something deeper, something different -- you'll do better finding another title.

Fans of Jamie Ford’s previous novels will not be disappointed with his most recent work, Love and Other Consolation Prizes. Based on a true story, Ford weaves the tale of Yung, a young boy born into extreme poverty, who is also an outcast because he is half-Chinese, half-American.

In desperation, his starving mother sends him away on a ship, hoping that he will have a better life. She gives him one parting gift--a hairpin. This gift becomes his good luck charm and he carries it with him throughout his life.

After arriving in America, he is renamed Earnest Young and is bounced around from one orphanage to another until one “benefactor” has the idea of raffling him off at the first Seattle World’s Fair in 1909. Much to the benefactor’s dismay, the winning ticket holder is the madame of the classiest brothel in town.

Ernest begins his life in the brothel by running errands and other miscellaneous tasks for the women who work there. It is here he meets the two loves of his life -- Maisie, the precocious daughter of the owner, and Fahn, a girl who came over from China on the same ship with him.

The story moves back and forth in a dual timeline as Ernest tells his daughters the story of his life and the life of their mother, Gracie, who is ill with a form of dementia. Even though much of the story takes place in a brothel, readers are not privy to the closed door activities of the working girls.

Set amidst the backdrop of amusement parks and social upheaval, Ford successfully gives readers a sweet story of love and hope in spite of difficult circumstances. I enjoyed the characters, loved the ending and found this a pleasure to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

Fantastic! This is my favorite of Fords novels to date. I adore stories that allow elderly characters to revisit their pasts. So many amazing events happen during lifetimes that we take it for granted to ask our elders about there own experiences. This is perfect historical fiction... I feel confident that this novel will be a huge success. 5 stars.

A good book. Jumping back and forth from the past to the present in the lives of these people was very effective. Believable.

“There are people in our lives whom we love, and lose, and forever long for. They orbit our hearts 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.”

Jamie Ford’s latest novel, Love and Other Consolation Prizes weaves a story of love, loss, and redemption, as it tells the story of a young man and his search to belong.

In the early 1900s, young Ernest (at that time, Yung Kun-ai), was taken from his homeland of China after witnessing a horrific act from his mother. As a five-year-old with a mother unable to care for him, Ernest is taken to America, desperately in hope of a “better life.” He became a charity case at a boarding school, but as a half-Chinese boy, he didn’t quite fit in. In 1909, during a visit to the breathtaking Seattle’s World Fair, he is raffled off as a prize to the person with the winning ticket. It is here that he finally finds what he’s always wanted – a place to belong.

The cathartic nature of memories was also important. Gracie had been diagnosed with neurosyphilis, which had been latent since contracted in her days working as a prostitute. Neurosyphilis can present Alzheimer-like symptoms in patients, like in Gracie. It wasn’t until she started to come to terms with her past, subconsciously wrestling with the idea that she wasn’t good enough, that she was finally able to start to heal.

What I really like about Jamie Ford’s writing is he has a way of drawing the reader in. He alternated between 1909/1910 and 1962 in a way that, although over 50 years apart, seemed to be running side-by-side, slowly closing the gap and leading to the “big reveal.” Although the identity of Gracie (Fahn? Maisie?) was a major plot point of the story, it wasn’t the main point. It didn’t matter who Gracie was, what mattered was Ernest’s love and devotion toward her, even when she didn’t remember her love toward him; what mattered was the life they built together, the legacy they would pass onto their daughters; what mattered was their survival in a world that wasn’t always kind or fair, but their eventual triumph.

And that was both beautiful and poignant.

I really enjoyed Love and Other Consolation Prizes. It was beautiful and surprising and poignant and captivating, all rolled into one. I look forward to reading more of Jamie Ford's books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for an advanced copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review!

VERY VERY good book. I was a little concerned that it was going to be dry since this book is supposed to be based on a true story, but the opposite was true. I really truly liked this book and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to all of the characters. We have Ernest who is really the main character and what he sees and goes through. This book switches between around 1909 and 1965 so when Ernest is young/teen and when he is older and has a family of his own.

Ernest gets sold by his mom after he watches his mom bury his alive sister. He is then almost drowned, tranfered to numerous homes he ends up getting "won" at the first World Fair in Washington. He works for an upscale "whore house" and meets a lot of interesting people.