Book Review: Love and Other Consolation Prizes

I'm always on the look-out for worthwhile audio books. This selection by Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, was a lovely story. It kept me engrossed in the tale and, despite treatment of a seedier part of society, was inspiring. I really enjoyed the audio experience of Ford's Songs of Willow Frost (one of my top four reads in 2015). Thus, I jumped at the chance when I found this on the library shelf.

Ford takes a true story from the 1909 Seattle World's Fair and fleshes out a believable and engaging fictional account of a boy raffled off. Twelve-year-old ward Ernest Young marvels at the prospect of attending the fair, unaware that his life will soon alter. A woman of ill-repute, who runs an upscale brothel, holds the winning ticket. Haunted by the image of his young mother burying his infant sister alive back in China, Ernest knows that life can be perilously difficult, but he determines to make the best of his opportunities. During his time at the brothel, he falls in love with two girls: Fawn, who came to the States on the same boat with him, and Maisie, daughter of the brothel's madam.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes weaves back and forth between the 1909 World's Fair and the 1962 Century 21 Exposition. At the time of the Exposition, Ernest's wife battles dementia, but begins to bring forth images from a troubled past. Her journalist daughter, Juju, is eager to uncover her secrets. The author expertly teases out the tale in increments. The reader hangs on tenterhooks waiting to discover which of the two girls Ernest wed and what his wife's seedy past entailed. I couldn't wait to uncover the solution to the mystery. I also appreciated the author's words at the end, discussing his sources and the historical facts that propelled the story into being.