Jamie Ford

1909, Seattle. At the Worlds Fair a half-Chinese boy called Ernest Young is raffled off as a prize. He ends up working in a brothel in Seattles famed Red Light District and falls in love with Maisie, the daughter of a flamboyant madam, and Fahn, a karayuki-san, a Japanese maid sold into servitude.On the eve of the new Worlds Fair in 1962, Ernest looks back on the past, the memories he made with his beloved wife while his daughter, a reporter, begins to unravel their tragic past.

The Panama Hotel in Seattle has been boarded up for decades, but the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: belongings stored by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. As Henry Lee stands in the crowd he wonders if a link still exists to the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago.

Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese-American, has lived at Seattles Sacred Heart Orphanage since his mother disappeared five years ago. During a trip to the movie theatre, William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother.

A short story from Jamie Ford, the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

1986, The Panama HotelThe old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during World War II. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his heart to so many years ago.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club PickThe New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a powerful exploration of the love that binds a family across the generations in one of the most beautiful books of motherhood and what we pass on to those that come after us (Jenna Bush Hager, Today).Dorothy Moy breaks her own heart for a living.As Washingtons former poet laureate, thats how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help.Through an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma, Dorothy intimately connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America.As the painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma isnt the only thing shes inherited. A stranger is searching for her in each time perioda stranger whos loved her through all of her genetic memories. Can Dorothy break the cycle of pain and abandonment to finally find peace for her daughter and love for herself? Or will she end up paying the ultimate price? For Jamie Ford fans both old and new, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is an unmitigated pleasure (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and a lyrical love story unlike any other.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom Jamie Ford, author of the beloved Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, comes a much-anticipated second novel. Set against the backdrop of Depression-era Seattle, Songs of Willow Frost is a powerful tale of two soulsa boy with dreams for his future and a woman escaping her haunted pastboth seeking love, hope, and forgiveness.Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Readers Circle for author chats and more. Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese American boy, has lived at Seattles Sacred Heart Orphanage ever since his mothers listless body was carried away from their small apartment five years ago. On his birthdayor rather, the day the nuns designate as his birthdayWilliam and the other orphans are taken to the historical Moore Theatre, where William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother, Liu Song. Determined to find Willow and prove that his mother is still alive, William escapes from Sacred Heart with his friend Charlotte. The pair navigate the streets of Seattle, where they must not only survive but confront the mysteries of Williams past and his connection to the exotic film star. The story of Willow Frost, however, is far more complicated than the Hollywood fantasy William sees onscreen. Shifting between the Great Depression and the 1920s, Songs of Willow Frost takes readers on an emotional journey of discovery. Jamie Fords sweeping novel will resonate with anyone who has ever longed for the comforts of family and a place to call home.Praise for Songs of Willow Frost If you liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, youre going to love Songs of Willow Frost. . . . tender, powerful, and deeply satisfying.Lisa Genova [A] poignant tale of lost and found love.Tampa Bay Times Arresting . . . [with] the kind of ending readers always hope for, but seldom get.The Dallas Morning News [An] achingly tender story . . . a tale of nuance and emotion.TheProvidence Journal Ford crafts [a] beautiful, tender tale of love transcending the sins people perpetrate on one another and shows how the strength of our primal relationships is the best part of our human nature.Great Falls Tribune Remarkable . . . likely to appeal to readers who enjoy the multi-generational novels of Amy Tan.Bookreporter Jamie Ford is a first-rate novelist, and with Songs of Willow Frost he takes a great leap forward and demonstrates the uncanny ability to move me to tears.Pat Conroy With vivid detail, Jamie Ford brings to life Seattles Chinatown during the Depression and chronicles the high price those desperate times exacted from an orphaned boy and the woman he believes is his mother. Songs of Willow Frost is about innocence and the loss of it, about longing, about the power of remembered love.Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank Fords boundless compassion for the human spirit, in all its strengths and weaknesses, makes him one of our most unique and compelling storytellers.Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrews Last Stand

From the bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet comes a powerful novel, inspired by a true story, about a boy whose life is transformed at Seattles epic 1909 Worlds Fair.An evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history.Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale For twelve-year-old Ernest Young, a charity student at a boarding school, the chance to go to the Worlds Fair feels like a gift. But only once hes there, amid the exotic exhibits, fireworks, and Ferris wheels, does he discover that he is the one who is actually the prize. The half-Chinese orphan is astounded to learn he will be raffled offa healthy boy to a good home. The winning ticket belongs to the flamboyant madam of a high-class brothel, famous for educating her girls. There, Ernest becomes the new houseboy and befriends Maisie, the madams precocious daughter, and a bold scullery maid named Fahn. Their friendship and affection form the first real family Ernest has ever knownand against all odds, this new sporting life gives him the sense of home hes always desired. But as the grande dame succumbs to an occupational hazard and their world of finery begins to crumble, all three must grapple with hope, ambition, and first love. Fifty years later, in the shadow of Seattles second Worlds Fair, Ernest struggles to help his ailing wife reconcile who she once was with who she wanted to be, while trying to keep family secrets hidden from their grown-up daughters. Against a rich backdrop of post-Victorian vice, suffrage, and celebration, Love and Other Consolations is an enchanting tale about innocence and devotionin a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale.Praise for Love and Other Consolation PrizesExciting . . . [Jamie] Ford captures the thrill of first kisses and the shock of revealing long-hidden affairs.Kirkus Reviews Strong . . . A laudable effort that shines light on little known histories.Library Journal Poignant . . . Vibrantly rendered.Booklist Combining rich narrative and literary qualities, the book achieves a multi-faceted emotional resonance. It is by turns heart-rending, tragic, disturbing, sanguine, warm, and life-affirming. Perceptive themes that run throughout culminate at the end. A true story from the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition inspired this very absorbing and moving novel. Highly recommended.Historical Novel Society (Editors choice)Ford is a master at shining light into dark, forgotten corners of history and revealing the most unexpected and relatable human threads. . . . A beautiful and enthralling story of resilience and the many permutations of love.Jessica Shattuck, author of The Women in the CastleAll the charm and heartbreak of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet . . . Based on a true story, Love and Other Consolation Prizes will warm your soul.Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut that explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle era during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love.Lisa SeeA tender and satisfying novel.Garth Stein, bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the RainIn 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattles Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II. As the owner displays and unfurls a Japanese parasol, Henry, a Chinese American, remembers a young Japanese American girl from his childhood in the 1940sKeiko Okabe, with whom he forged a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcended the prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family were evacuated to the internment camps, she and Henry could only hope that their promise to each other would be kept. Now, forty years later, Henry explores the hotels basement for the Okabe familys belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure. His search will take him on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for family, for love, for country.

1934. Tras la epidemia de gripe, que ha dejado cientos deámiles de víctimas, Seattle está ahora inmersa en la GranáDepresión. La gente pierde su trabajo, las calles se llenanáde mendigos y los niños, sin nadie que les cuide, atestanalos orfanatos. William, de once años y origen chino, esauno de ellos. Recuerda como hace cinco años se llevaronael cuerpo inerte de su madre del pequeño piso en queavivian, y no sabe si ella esta viva o muerta. Nunca le haavisitado ni se ha puesto en contacto con el. Pero un diaaque las monjas les llevan al cine, William cree reconocerlaaconvertida en Willow Frost, una gran estrella de laapantalla. Decidido a encontrarla y a averiguar si realmenteaes su madre, William escapa con Charlotte, suaamiga ciega, dispuesto a afrontar la verdad. Lo queadescubrira es que su madre es una mujer solida y valiente,acon un pasado lleno de injusticias, marcada por algoaque ocurrio doce años atras.Con unos personajes llenos de fuerza, Hasta que volvamosaa vernos es una novela conmovedora, una granahistoria de amor, perdida y reencuentro que el lector noaolvidara en mucho tiempo.

Una historia poderosísima de madre e hijo. Bestseller instantáneo en The New York Times y USA Today.1934. Tras la epidemia de gripe, que ha dejado cientos de miles de víctimas, Seattle está ahora inmersa en la Gran Depresion. La gente pierde su trabajo, las calles se llenan de mendigos y los niños, sin nadie que les cuide, atestan los orfanatos. William, de once años y origen chino, es uno de ellos. Recuerda como hace cinco años se llevaron el cuerpo inerte de su madre del pequeño piso en que vivian, y no sabe si ella esta viva o muerta. Nunca le ha visitado ni se ha puesto en contacto con el. Pero un dia que las monjas les llevan al cine, William cree reconocerla convertida en Willow Frost, una gran estrella de la pantalla. Decidido a encontrarla y a averiguar si realmente es su madre, William escapa con Charlotte, su amiga ciega, dispuesto a afrontar la verdad. Lo que descubrira es que su madre es una mujer solida y valiente, con un pasado lleno de injusticias, marcada por algo que ocurrio doce años atras.Con unos personajes llenos de fuerza, Hasta que volvamos a vernos es una novela conmovedora, una gran historia de amor, perdida y reencuentro que el lector no olvidara en mucho tiempo.