Love And Other Consolation Prizes
By Jamie Ford
297 pages
“Parents always have a story that their children don’t really know.”
This is the story of Ernest and his two loves. The novel switches in time from the first World’s Fair in Seattle in 1909 to the World’s Fair in Seattle in 1962. We follow Ernest as he escapes starvation in China by being smuggled onto a boat bound for America. His journey is an interesting snapshot of a time in history.What did it make me think about?
This is basically a love story- set in a time and place in our history that was interesting to read about. Who would think that just a little over a 100 years ago it would have been acceptable to auction off a young boy to the highest bidder at the fair?Should I read it?
I recommend this to any fan of historical fiction or just a good romance.
Quote-
” ‘He suspected that everyone his age, of his vintage, had a backstory, a secret that they’ve never shared. For one it might be a forsaken husband back in Japan. For another it could be a son or a daughter from a previous marriage in China. For others perhaps the secret shame was a father they didn’t talk to anymore, or a baby they’d given to a neighbor, never to be seen again. Or perhaps a vocational secret- back-room gambling, bringing rum down from Canada during Prohibition, or the personal, private horrors that lay hidden behind the bars, ribbons, and medals of a military record.
We all have things we don’t talk about, Ernest thought. Even though, more often than not, those are the things that make us who we are.’ “
