The relationship between Henry and Keiko is developed from the racial minority connection but grows into a genuine attraction and ultimately love. Rather than send him to a Chinese school, Henry’s parents enroll him at Rainier Elementary — a predominantly white school.

Also, whenever the leaders of my country say there’s someplace Americans shouldn’t go, I want to go there even more. I’ve had friends travel to Iran in the past and they’ve told me wonderful things—about the history, the culture, and especially the kind and generous people. Sometimes the reader annoyed me when he said the main character's (Henry's) words with a Chinese accent (inconsistently at that!The reader becomes very embroiled in Henry’s life and experiences and really feels for him as he struggles to come to terms with his family situation, school life and his first love. The characters are skilfully drawn and the way the book is set out in its chapters, flitting from present time to time in the past when Henry and Keiko first meet when they are at school, both having been sent to a prestigious private school, but they are the only Chinese and Japanese pupils within. Ford wrote a new short story, Only Keiko, to accompany the 10-year anniversary reissue of the novel. Then the bill is signed that sent thousands of Japanese from the west coast, in this case Seattle, to internment camps, many in Colorado.

But I had heard so many good things about THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET that I bought it, though I sat on it a while before I cracked it open to read. They face racism and prejudice on a daily basis and Henry's father does not approve of the friendship. Chinatown was where Chinese people were a majority population, but nearby was a Japanese enclave of businesses and homes.The characters are expertly drawn, with Henry and his jazz-playing friend Sheldon being my favourites. However, Ford deftly pulls off a Hollywood-worthy romance from the files, one anchored to a true event. In Keiko’s family her whole family speaks English, and she does not know any Japanese as her family considers themselves to be Americain and therefore act accordingly) . In short, it's the best of times and the worst of times for Henry and Keiko, and we get to experience it all without risking our own precious little hearts.

In an interview with NPR, Jamie Ford discusses writing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and his own family's stories of assimilation, including how his great grandfather (a Chinese man named Min Chung) came to America and decided to adopt the surname Ford.It was a good choice, listening to it being read with Chinese accents from Henry and his family made it even more interesting. This is a moving, heart-rending story; to steal from the book's title, bittersweet really does describe this tale. When the residents of the city's Japantown are threatened with evacuation to internment camps, Henry safeguards Keiko's family's photo albums. With a wonderful characterisation, mesmerising relationships, a breathtaking narrative and a story that will most certainly leave you wanting more, Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of my highlights of the year.