William Eng is a twelve year old Chinese American in 1934 and has lived at the Sacred Heart Orphanage since he was seven. Life in the orphanage could be a lot better, most of the children aren't even orphans but have been abandoned by their parents and the food there consists mainly of bread with the mouldy bits picked out. On the day designated by the nuns to be all the boys birthdays they're allowed to visit the theatre. William sees an actress called Willow Frost on the screen and is convinced she's really his mother Liu Song, who he can remember and always believed was still alive. When he learns that Willow will be making a visit to Seattle he escapes from the orphanage, along with his blind friend Charlotte, to try and find her.
The book also goes further back in time to 1921 to tell us about Willow's life, it wasn't easy by any means and she had plenty to deal with from a young age. It's a heartbreaking story and in parts frustrating, especially reading about how single mothers were treated during those times.
It's written in the same simple style as Ford's first novel
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet which makes it a quick, easy read despite the subject matter.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Hotel on the Corner was such a great book that I'm going to have to read this one eventually, but I'm not in a huge rush for some reason.
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