On Saturday, Feb 5, author Jamie Ford will visit Secret Garden Bookshop to read from his New York Times bestselling book, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet."

Set in Seattle in the 1940s and 80s, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet tells the story about a Chinese-American boy who falls in love with a Japanese-American girl during the most conflicted and volatile times in American history.

The story's protagonist is Henry Lee, a son of a Chinese nationalist, who in the height of World War II meets
Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese-American girl. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and anti-Japanese persecution, Henry and Keiko forge a forbidden bond of friendship and innocent love. Henry and Keiko are separated when Keiko and her family are rounded up and evacuated to an internment camp.

Forty years later, in the 1980s, Henry comes across what he believes to be Keiko's parasol when Japanese belongings from the encampments are found in the basement of the Panama Hotel. Now a widower, Henry reflects back on the 1940s, the choices he made, and the struggles between him and his nationalistic father in comparison to him and his own modern Chinese-American son.

Author Jamie Ford, himself half-Chinese, said he choose to write this story as "it's a time in history people turn a blind eye to."

Ford said he was close to his grandparents and heard many stories.

"I've always had a fascination with that time in history," Ford said. "My dad always talked about having to wear a "I'm Chinese" button to school to not be mistaken for being Japanese. He was 15 when Pearl Harbor got bombed."

The animosity between the Japanese and Chinese communities goes back to the Old War but was still very present in the first generation immigrants of that time.

Ford said the encampment and the Japanese-Chinese animosity are two very present themes in the book but it's also very much a love story.

"It's Romeo and Juliet in the sense that there's a boy and a girl from communities that don't get along," he said.

While his topic is heavy, Ford said his book presentations are light.

"Humor masks the emotional pain. It's a coping mechanism," Ford said.

"Plus, I take writing stories serious but I don't take myself serious. I don't buy into the pretentious, hyper-serious aspect of being an author."

When he first wrote the book his main goal was to simply to get the story published but he has done much more than that. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks. It was also an IndieBound NEXT List Selection, a Borders Original Voices Selection, a Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Pennie’s Pick at Costco, a Target Bookmarked Club Pick, and a National Bestseller. It was also named the #1 Book Club Pick for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 by the American Booksellers Association.

The book has been translated into 24 languages and interestingly enough, it's the number one selling book in Norway.

"I don't know why. The translator must have done a really good job," Ford joked.

His theory however, is that cold countries have higher literary populations just like literature thrives in the Northwest.

His current book tour will bring him to three different places in Seattle including Ballard.

Traveling and being on tour can be tiring, Ford said. "But book events in themselves are heaven," he said explaining that just loves being around books.

"Plus I'm just so thankful that anyone cares," he said.

Ford said that at the event he won't read very much. Instead, he will talk about the backstory of the book. "I try to make it entertaining and insightful. I'm not going to put anyone asleep with my reading."

Jamie Ford will be at Secret Garden Books at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 5, for a talk and a signing session.
Secret Garden Books is located at 5614 22nd Ave N.W.

For more information about Jamie Ford, please visit www.jamieford.com