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
I've decided to go off topic and post about a walk all four of us went on this morning. It's been a little while since we've been on one as I don't enjoy walking in very hot weather, as we weren't keen on driving too far we decided on the four mile circular walk in Woodbridge from this book: 50 Walks in Suffolk. Woodbridge, only five miles from where we live, is a lovely little town and despite going many times to stroll along the river or take the girls to the park we've surprisingly never done this walk before. It was wonderful, it took us along the river, through some woods and part of the town passing by the church. It's definitely a walk I'll go on again as it doesn't take too long to do and isn't too far to travel to by car. 
In the crisp, early hours of an Autumn morning, the police are called to a
suspected murder at a farm outside a small village. A beautiful young
woman has been found dead, blood all over the cottage she lives in. At
the same time, police respond to a reported female suicide, where a car
has fallen into a local quarry. As DI Louisa Smith and her team gather
the evidence, they discover a link between these two women, which sealed
their dreadful fate one cold night, under a silent moon. An unsettling
and compulsively readable novel that will keep you gripped until the
very last page.
