I would rate this a solid 4. Nicely written. I really loved The Corner of Bitter and Sweet so I was really looking forward to this book. In many ways it was similar as in the plot going between scenes of the past and present, in this case between the Seattle World's Fair of 1909 and 1962. Although I have to admit I did like The Corner of Bitter and Sweet a tad more, this novel also is an interesting tale based on a true story. It is the story of Ernest, a Eurasian boy whose Chinese mother heartbreakingly sent him to the US to avoid poverty and starvation racking her homeland but also with hopes for a better life for him. After arriving in the US, Ernest was soon put up for auction by his sponsor as the "prize" at the 1909 World's Fair. Ernest's journey takes him to an "upscale" brothel where he meets two young women, (one he had previously met on the boat ride to the US), Fahn and Maisie, both of whom he cares for very much but in different ways. We also follow Ernest in the 1960s with his wife, Gracie and his two daughters. This is a gripping yet moving story of tender hearted love, racism, human trafficking, prostitution, determination and ambition. Excellent character development. An excellent read. I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

As I come to my last days of vacation, Love and Other Consolation Prizes was the perfect book to end with. This is a tender story of relationships and heritage, self worth and dignity, community and identity... in the midst of vulnerability, illness, and human trafficking. As he also illustrated in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Ford has a gift for exploring the heart and soul of his characters. . . People who others might dismiss, ignore, judge, and/or stereotype. I really enjoyed this book and expect to continue processing it in the coming days.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Interesting historical fiction novel. I liked reading about the world’s fair and the romance in the book

This is a beautiful story of a boy sold into slavery who ends up living in a brothel where he is loved and cared for. He grows up loving two very different women, one destined to be a prostitue, the other, a worker in the brothel who fantasizes about the life she could live as a woman of the house. He grows up to marry one of these women and to the place where the three of them enjoyed each other's company.

After reading this book, I was shocked to realize that this is inspired by a true story. Knowing that, makes the story all that my endearing to me.
The book grips you from the beginning as Ernest is given up by his mother at a very young age as she is dying of starvation. He finds himself heading to America, gets auctioned off to Madame Flora. Although Madame Flora is widely known as running a house of ill repute, Ernest experiences friendship, first loves, loyalty and deep love for the "family" he is now a part of.
Author Jamie Ford tells the story of Ernest's life weaving in between 1902 and into the 1960's where you'll fall in love with tenderhearted Ernest as he cares for his Gracie in such a sacrificial way.

*Thank you to Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.*

This is a love story based on a real story. Ernest Young, a half-Chinese orphan, is sold to the madam of a brothel. While working there, he meets Maisie and Fahn. Even though they are all friends, a love story develops between Ernest and one of the girls. It is interesting because the author does not let the reader know which girl Ernest ends up with until the end of the story. A great love story with lots of twists and turns.

Jamie Ford’s debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, was historical fiction about the love and friendship between a Chinese-American boy and a Japanese American girl in Seattle and during the internment in World War II.

In this book, Ford returns to the theme of a relationship between a Chinese-American boy and a Japanese-American girl in Seattle, this time during a period for the most part bracketed by the two Seattle World Fairs, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 and the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. It also goes back and forth in time quite seamlessly, as did Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

When this story begins in 1962, Ernest Young, now in his 60’s, is dealing with his wife Gracie’s memory loss. One of their two daughters, Juju, is a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, and she convinced her editor to let her write a then-and-now piece about the grand opening of the new world’s fair, seen through the eyes of those who happened to attend the original Alaska-Pacific-Yukon Expo in 1909. Her father is one of those, and she discovers to her astonishment that it is he who was the subject of a 1909 article she found about a young boy auctioned off at the Fair. [This is based on a real life story, although the boy named Ernest was an infant at the time; in this book, Ernest is 12 when the auction occurs.]

Juju wants to know his story, but how can he explain without revealing the secrets he and Gracie have tried to hide all these years? “What would Hanny and Juju think if they learned that their mother was once someone else - something else?

But Grace’s memory, perhaps spurred by Juju’s questions, seems to be coming back, and she herself contributes to part of the story for Juju. The doctor told Ernest this could happen: “the human body is a marvelous work and a wonder.”

Ernest explains to Juju that he left China as a 5-year-old during a time of war and famine. He was taken by an “uncle” to America to be sold. On the boat, he was put into a holding area with other children. One of the young girls, Fahn, was Japanese, first sold to China, and now being sold again. She was around three years older than he was. Nevertheless, he impulsively told her “I’m going to marry you.” She said, “I am sorry. No one will ever marry us.”

Ernest ended up in Seattle, living in a series of boarding houses. No one adopted him; “he wasn’t Chinese enough for an Asian family and wasn’t white enough for a Caucasian home.” He was sponsored by a Mrs. Irvine, a “crusader for virtue,” a cold woman who found offense in everything she saw. She told Ernest she wanted him to train to be a custodian. When he said he wanted to go to another home instead, she decided to auction him off at the Fair “for a good cause.”

But the winning ticket was held not by a family but by Florence Nettleton, a.k.a. Madam Flora, of the Tenderloin Bordello. She intended Ernest to be their houseboy doing odd jobs.

To his surprise he runs into Fahn there, working as a scullery maid. It has been seven years since they came over together on the ship, but she recognizes him and asks, “are you still going to marry me?” Fahn and everyone else assure him the Tenderloin is a wonderful place to work, and it is. Madam Flora takes in castaways and gives them jobs. [The story of Madam Flora seems to be modeled in part on the real-life madam Lou Graham, who was a famous madame in Seattle. In addition to running the brothel, she contributed a great deal of money to the education of the city’s children.] Indeed, without Madam Flora, he tells Juju, “I might have wound up as a street kid, eventually sent to a poorhouse, or a reform school that was more like a jail, or worse….” And most importantly, “If I didn’t end up in the Tenderloin, I might never have met your mother.”

He was immediately drawn to Fahn, but also to Maisie, another young girl with an unknown status at the house. Maisie told Ernest, “We’re like a big happy family at the Tenderloin; Fahn and me are like Irish twins.” She clarified that Madam Flora was her mother, although she told everyone Maisie was her younger sister; having a child was “bad for business.”

But Madam Flora is suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis, and has more and more days where she is losing contact with reality. To pay for her treatment, Miss Amber, Flora’s managing partner, decides that Maisie must have a “coming out” party. This happened when any of the girls destined to be “upstairs girls” turned 16; these virgins were auctioned to the highest bidder. Everyone is upset about it, but Maisie loves her mother and says “it’s only one night.”

To everyone’s chagrin, Fahn was upset that Maisie was picked instead of her. She wanted to be an upstairs girl, and Ernest was appalled. Fahn ran off to a lower class bordello.

Ernest is emotionally overwhelmed; he is in love with both Maisie and Fahn, and now it seems both of them are destined for a life he wouldn’t wish for them.

On top of the other problems, women like Mrs. Irvine, opposed to the idea of “immorality” in any form, were getting more successful. The Tenderloin received notice it was being shut down. Tragedy ensues all around.

At one time Maisie had told Ernest, “My theory is that the best, worst, happiest, saddest, scariest, and most memorable moments are all connected. Those are the important times, good and bad. The rest is just filler.’” Or as Ernest was told by “Professor True” who played the piano at the Tenderloin, “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.”

Ernest finds this to be true.

Evaluation: This author has a knack for constructing beautiful love stories while at the same time filling in historical details of bygone eras. The issues he explores, like poverty, prostitution, cultural clashes, decency, and devotion, are well treated, and add depth and poignancy to his stories. This is an excellent book.

Jamie Ford has preserved so much of Seattle's history through his transformative historical fiction and given voice to one of Seattle's most multifaceted communities.

Ernest Young has had a tough life, but he's a survivor. We learn why as he reflects on his earlier years from his present-day in 1962. It was fascinating to learn about Gibson Girls, the Tenderloin, and the discrimination Asian Americans experienced.

Since Ernest's unique experience at the World Fair is based on a true story, I'm curious to know more about it. I'll have to find a published version since this was an ARC without acknowledgments and a possible author's note.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for ARC; this is an unbiased review.

This novel tells one story through two timelines: Ernest as a young boy in China and his journey to America at the time of Seattle's first World's Fair in 1909, and Ernest as an adult during Seattle's second World's Fair fifty years later. The past timeline has the rich historical details and cross-cultural tensions that readers expect from Jamie Ford's novels. The 1962 timeline felt a bit too "modern" even though that time is over fifty years removed from this one. Nonetheless, the events of Ernest's life (some parts based on a true story of a child who was a raffle prize) and the people he meets throughout all stages are gripping, unpredictable, and multi-faceted.

Another wonderful book by this author. Deep and meaningful. Well researched and made me read other events during this time period.

Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book.
WOW! I enjoyed this book immensely. The story grabs you from the very start. I didn't want to put it down and I found myself reading it at every opportunity. I love Ernest! Loved the historical connection to the Seattle World's Fair. This is a good read!!

Just wonderful! Although I admit I didn't find it quite as compelling as Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, the way Ford incorporates Seattle history into this love story makes for a story I couldn't stop reading. Maybe I'm biased since I live in the area, but I loved the way Ford tells a story that links two historical events 60 years apart - the AYP and the Seattle World's Fair. I can't explain why I loved his first novel more since in many ways this one is similar, but I definitely recommend BOTH.

What a delightful love story! Jamie Ford does it again...this ranks right up there with her novel At the Corner of Bitter & Sweet.

The story and plot of Love and Other Consolation Prizes are intriguing. Ernest Young’s story begins in China where he is sold onto a boat of indentured servants and, along with other children, held in caged compartments below deck for the arduous journey to Seattle. Once in port, Ernest finds himself a ward of the state under the guidance of Mrs. Irvine, doing odd jobs at various schools but always excluded from school outings. Fate--and Mrs. Irvine--intervene when Ernest is raffled off “to a good home” but paradoxically ends up in a house of prostitution. Paradox on paradox--the house of prostitution does, indeed, turn out to be a good home.The opulent brothel peopled with kind-hearted characters provides a bittersweet upbringing for young Ernest. I saw some parallels to Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book in the array of colorful characters who each contribute to Ernest’s coming of age--the piano playing elder who dispenses words of wisdom, the brothel owner who invites her “guests” into her sumptuous mansion, and the sanctimonious temperance worker whose attempted adoption raffle at the Seattle World’s Fair takes a turn she never could have imagined.

The author’s love of Seattle history shines through in both this book and in his earlier work Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. In these two novels I learned so much about a beautiful, complex city I often visit. The author mines Seattle’s history for everyday details as an archaeologist would collect pottery shards and arrowheads and drapery appointments. In Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, these historical details merge with plot and character into a seamless narrative quilt. Unfortunately, too often in Love and Other Consolation Prizes, the stitches seem to be lying on top of the story fabric rather than binding the layers together. I think much of this has to do with voice in the young Ernest sections. What twelve-year-old, let alone an orphan systematically barred from cultural activities, would think in words such as beguiling or ingénue, or accurately identify a hobble skirt or spiral puttee? (I confess I had to look the latter up.) All of this led me to focus on the words and thus feel distanced from the story. In the passages featuring Ernest as a child, I would have preferred a simpler style, one that Francine Prose says in her book Reading Like a Writer is meant “to make you not pay attention.”

While I did not lose myself completely in the tale of young Ernest as he comes of age in pre-war Seattle, I did enjoy the plot, characters, history--history that includes bawdy revelers, impassioned suffragettes, temperance crusaders, and corrupt politicians. I recommend this novel to readers interested in the diverse, and sometimes gritty, history of Seattle (though, as you can probably tell, not as heartily as I recommend Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet).

I received an advance reading copy of Love and Other Consolation Prizes from Net Galley.

Poignant, subtle, philosophical story by an author who knows how to immerse the reader in a time and place.

The storyline follows the life of Ernest Young. Born in China, he is sent to America as a child by his starving mother to save his life. He survives the brutal trip when others do not and is taken into a children’s home as a ward of the state. His education is sponsored by a wealthy Seattle matron. When he expresses a desire to expand his horizons beyond the school, where he has been subjected to racism and second-class treatment, his sponsor arranges for him to be raffled off as the prize. When the Madame of a high-end brothel wins the raffle, Ernest’s life improves dramatically through developing the familial bonds with the colorful cast of residents.

The story is told in dual timelines: the early 1900s and 1962, related to two significant fairs that took place in Seattle, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 and the Century 21 Expo in 1962. This beautifully written book provides a vivid picture of each event, and provides a striking contrast between the two.

Explores substantial topics such as human trafficking, racism, prostitution, and hypocrisy. Also delves into the timeless themes of the human condition, such as yearning for a sense of belonging, feeling less than adequate, the psychological impacts of suffering, and the desire to be loved. The main characters express philosophical views of life, such as the interconnectedness of memorable moments, the often-unintended consequences of decisions, and the vast capabilities of the human heart.

Highly recommended, especially to book clubs, readers of historical fiction, and those who enjoy somewhat sentimental stories about the complexities of people. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an advance copy in return for candid feedback.

LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES: A NOVEL (September 2017)
By Jamie Ford
Ballantine, 330 pages.
★★★★

A novel about forced emigration, a harrowing escape from death, youngsters being sold in raffles, growing up in a whorehouse, the effects neurosyphilis, and spending one's adult years trying to mask the past doesn't generally lend itself to adjectives such as "sweet" and "charming," but this one does. Those familiar with Jamie Ford's debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, know that he can tackle bleak subjects with a light hand—too light for those who see his work as analogous to an overly sunny Ken Burns film—but with enough aplomb for me to make his books engaging reads.

Ford opens his novel in China in 1902, a decidedly non-propitious year. It is one year after the collapse of the Boxer rebellion, millions are addicted to drugs, foreigners are picking the corpse of the decaying Qing Dynasty, and rural Chinese face hunger and starvation. Such horrors would have been the fate of Yung Kun-ai, had not his mother sold him to a shipping company bound for North America. Yung, who is about five-years-old and has been told the ship is owned by his "uncle," is crowded into the fetid hold of a rusty ship with dozens of others—the girls earmarked for brothels and the boys for picking cane in Hawaii, mainland servitude, or being dumped in the ocean if approached by inspectors. As if Yung doesn't have enough problems, he is a "half-breed" pariah because his father was Caucasian. He too would have drowned, had he not used his mother's hairpin—his only link to his birthplace—to cut his way from the bundle to which he was hastily tied and tossed overboard.

Yung is plucked from the waters of Seattle harbor and, after a few more misadventures, is taken in by Mrs. Irvine, a moral crusader and patron of both a children's home and a Christian academy. As Ernest Young*, he spends seven years with Irvine, before parting company with her. As her final "gift" to Ernest, she takes him the world's fair, the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific (AYP) Exposition, where he is raffled off to the highest bidder. Yes—you read that right; children were raffled at the AYP. Ernest, though, is luckier than most; his new patron is Florence Nettleton, known professionally as Madame Flora, and her profession is the world's oldest one. Hijinks, heartbreak, an eye-opening education, love, and other consolations are about to come Ernest's way in Seattle's Tenderloin district, where Flora runs a high-class house of ill repute.

The novel jumps back and forth in time bound by the AYP at one end, and the 1962 Century 21 Exposition that gave Seattle its iconic Space Needle and monorail system at the other. We meet Ernest as a boy and teen in the early 20th century, surrounded by the painted ladies of the Tenderloin, the colorful household staff, and his special friends Maisie (Flora's daughter) and Fahn—on both of whom he holds serious crushes. These parts of the book are essentially a coming of age story, albeit a very unorthodox one. In 1962 we encounter an aging Ernest, a married man whose wife has dementia-like symptoms. He passes his days caring for his wife, hanging out with Pascual, his Filipino best friend, and visiting with his daughters: Juju, a journalist, and Hanny, a flirty showgirl. Juju is slugging it out in the old boy's pressroom and the 1962 world's fair provides her with a good excuse to write the story of turn-of-the-century Chinese immigration to Seattle. Her parents would make excellent subjects, except her mother's memory is unreliable and Ernest's tongue isn't flapping.

Ford plots his story well and this novel moves at such a crisp pace that it seems much shorter than it is. It is fair comment to say that overall Love and Other Consolations is closer to pulp fiction than to that elusive (and often over exalted) category called "literature." The action, details, and relationships of Ernest's AYP years are far more interesting than the parts of the book set in 1962—and not just because coming of age tales tend to be more satisfying than leaving the stage narratives. Although we can only piece together what happened in the intervening fifty years of Ernest's life, Ford's book could benefit from a sprinkling of red herrings as it's too easy to predict the book's overall dramatic arc. This makes certain resolutions feel more convenient than convincing. In addition, Ford captures the "feel" of the early 1900s better than he does mid-century. Juju, in particular, sems too modern for 1962. All of this aside, young Ernest, his circle, and his world are so winning that one can take, if I might, consolation in them when future thrills wear thin.

Rob Weir

* Ford, whose father and grandfather were of Chinese descent, interjects a biographical parallel in the Anglicization of Yung Kun-ai. By all rights, the author should bear a Chinese surname, but his paternal grandfather changed his family's last name to Ford for mysterious reasons.

The story opens with a heart-rending scene of a Chinese mother burying her newborn daughter - alive - while her older brother looks on. Then she leaves him in the cemetery, telling him to wait for a man who will take him to America. His life becomes no less dramatic and only slightly more cheerful as he gets older. He is taken to Seattle and the story begins to alternate between the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 and the World's Fair in 1962.
As a Seattle resident, I was fascinated by this history of my city. At one point I had to look up the snowfall records for a certain year because this kind of snow doesn't typically happen here. Let's just say, the author did his homework. Historical facts are well researched and accurate. The story itself is emotionally charged and riveting.
Because a large part of it takes place in a brothel, it is better suited to high school and adult audiences.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

I received a copy of "Love and Other Consolation Prizes" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Jamie Ford for the opportunity to read this book.

There is just something about Jamie Ford's that move me and speak to me in deep and meaningful ways. I do not give 5 stars on Goodreads often, but this is the second book by this author that deserved this! Unbelievable!!

The story line of the book is really simple - a boy is auctioned off at the first Seattle World's Fair. It is told from his point of view during the first Seattle World's Fair and the second Seattle World's Fair. The juxtaposition of the time periods is beautiful and amazing.

The use of language, the time period, and the story were just spectacular! Please read this book if you like historical fiction, good writing, Asian-American history, Seattle, or just want to read a book - make it THIS one!!

This is a STRONG recommend!! I read this book within 24 hours and stayed up until 2:00am to finish it - it was THAT good!!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of my all time favorites, so I was very excited to get an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley of Jamie Ford's latest novel.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes follows the story of a young man and his two closest girl friends, as they grow up in the Tenderloin district of Seattle. Half of the story is anchored in the early 1900's at the time of the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition World's Fair. The other half is set in the early '60s at the time of the Seattle World's Fair. Although there are some passages that are hard to read, they all read as very realistic and believable. The characters in the 'home' where the three grow-up are colorful and memorable.

This is another great read by Jamie Ford.