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.
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