Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Both Henry and Keiko were born in the USA, the country which was foreign for their parents or – in Keiko’s case – grate parents, meant for them more than their distant and mysterious Motherlands.

Taking into account all the terrible things he heard about Japan and Japanese people from his father, Henry had to hate her, but that thought never lingered in his mind. While the Imperial Japanese Army was destroying Nanking, Henry was falling for Keiko. His biggest secret was Keiko, a Japanese American girl from his school. If they wanted him to be a great patriot of China, why would they have forbidden him speak Cantonese? That confused Henry a lot and soon enough he started using English just to hide certain aspects of his life from his parents. However, the methods they used to bring him up were more than strange. There was no doubt that Henry’s parents tried to do their best in order to raise their son as a true patriot of China, so that he could return to his Motherland in the future. He spoke English as good as Cantonese, which was the language of his parents, who were ultra-Chinese. The protagonist of the novel, Henry Lee, was born in the USA. This is the story, which proves that extreme bigotry is destructive and arrogance or unwillingness to admit mistakes will only lead to disappointments. Each word of it makes a heart swell with sadness, for it is impossible to stay indifferent to injustice that many of us have not witnessed and even never thought about. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweetis a beautifully written historical novel, which proves that love knows no boundaries and something good can be found even during the most terrible times. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford