I'm so very glad I got to read an advance copy of this book - thank you Net Galley!
Jamie Ford is a fabulous author. He weaves such a compelling story filled with characters with beautiful depth. The thing that kept this book from a 5 star rating from me was a bit of flimsiness in the older family life of Ernest and Gracie. There wasn't enough meat in it for me to know what Gracie's life had been like since their days at the Tenderloin, or their relationships to each other and as parents, with their daughters. I would have also loved to learn more about what the other main lady from Ernest's life had been doing and her perspective on the choices she made and how they played out.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes blew me away. I grew up outside Seattle and considered myself, at least before I read this book, fairly knowledgeable about Seattle history. Time and time again I had to stop reading to google something in the book to either find out more or to see if the event had actually occured in Seattle's history. I laughed at times, and I cried at times. I've talked to several people already about Love and Other Consolation Prizes. It is definitely a book that will stick with me for a long time.

The author of one of my favorite books, Hotel on the Corner of Biter and Sweet, Jamie Ford has written another captivating historical novel set in the Pacific Northwest. The chapters alternate between the early 20th century, around the time of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Well researched with compelling characters and a fascinating plot line, we follow the fate of Ernest Young, brought over as a child from China by what we would today call a human trafficker. The settings and characters are vividly described, and we learn how Ernest’s many unique experiences and secrets from his past shape the man he becomes. I absolutely could not put this book down—highly recommended!

Jamie Ford never disappoints me! His characters are compelling and the story evokes the time period accurately.

Please see blog