Songs of Willow Frost: A Novel

Jamie Ford’s second novel Songs of Willow Frost was met with much anticipation. I fell in love with his first novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and so I anxiously awaited the debut of his second book. I set my Kindle to download it at midnight. No joke.I desperately wanted to fall in love the way I did with Hotel. I wanted to ache with the characters, smile at their triumphs, and ultimately weep for the bittersweet end. Hotel gave me all of this and more, but unfortunately Willow Frost did not. Don’t get me wrong, Jamie Ford’s writing is just as incredible and beautiful as it was the first time, and I think his descriptions are possibly even more vivid and alive. He brought Seattle’s China Town to life in gorgeous color, even for someone who has never been there. His writing is exemplary and talented in a way that few authors today are able to emulate. And yet.I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I will say that Willow Frost was filled with heartbreak in an unspeakable way. Ford’s talent is found in his ability to make one tragedy after another still seem believable and not too far fetched, but there was so much utter horror in many of the tragedies that it was truly a difficult book to read. After one particular event, which I’m sure any one who has read it or will read it will know exactly to which I am referring, I had to put the book down for a week before I had the strength to pick it back up again. It was too horrific and too terrible to deal with. And I don’t say these things to negate Ford’s genius in any way or say these are reasons not to love the novel, because he was able to deal with some truly awful subjects that are and were unfortunately realities in our world. But the magnitude was often hard to bear.The main reason I think I could not fall in love with Willow Frost was because I did not fall in love with the characters. One in particular, again I don’t want to spoil it, seemed not to live up to her potential. And at the end of the novel, I wasn’t sure how Ford wanted us to feel about her. Were we supposed to despise her? Pity her? Love her? Personally, I was almost disgusted by her and her lack of strength. But I wasn’t sure if that was Ford’s goal or not. Which is why I believe I was unsatisfied with the ending. After all of the heartbreak and all of the tragedy, the ending didn’t feel like enough. It wouldn’t have been enough for me and I don’t believe it was enough for William. But again, what was Ford’s purpose in ending the novel the way he did?Ford beautifully creates a poverty stricken, tragedy-ridden landscape for his second novel. He takes us into the lives and hearts of William, Charlotte, and Willow, who seem to be more representatives of Seattle’s inhabitants during the Depression rather than fully fleshed out characters themselves. And if this was Ford’s intent, he succeeded perfectly. If it was not, there were just a few things missing to make me believe in the hope he tries to provide at the end. Songs of Willow Frost is most definitely worth the read, and it is a novel that will stay with you after you have finished the journey. I don’t believe it is as remarkable as Hotel, but perhaps I am biased. Hotel captured my heart in a way that no other contemporary novel has. Songs of Willow Frost was tragically beautiful, and for this reason it was harder to love completely.

Love all of his books…he grabs your interest immediately with his writing…he’s a wonderful storyteller…don’t miss any of his novels…you won’t be sorry!

I love learning history from novels..and when I first encountered Ford's Hotel on the corner of bitter sweet I loved how he brought to focus some of the rarely referenced issues California WWII Chinese faced along with Japanese along with a lovely light romance.I also loved the immersion into Pacific Northwest Chinese culture to be found in Songs of Willow Frost. The main protagonist is the "orphaned" (as often happened during the recession pictured in the novel many times orphans had one or more parents that couldn't afford them) son of a Chinese actress/singer who rediscovers the location of his mother threw her work.We learn some interesting stuff about early movie studios outside Hollywood, early Asian actors such as Sessue Hayakawa (silent movie actor) and a bit about working class Chinese culture in the Pacific Northwest. No surprise there's some painful racism here that results in women going through complicated childbirth being refused at white hospitals, etc.This view of Pacific Northwest film and chinese history is mostly super sweet and thoughtful. The main orphans' thoughts are many times quite adult-sounding to me in a way that I didn't always think rang true to the emotional heart of the story. And sometimes, the super-sweetness glossed so far over the reality of what was happening (other than the first abusive episode that results in the conception of the orphan) that I think it weakened some of the emotional impact. (What Willow Frost has to endure after she loses her job hawking music scores, the dark hints of what Charlotte the orphan friend endured from her father, etc).So while I wanted to give this book 5 stars solely because I think its important to read for the historical parts, sweet and sadly dreamy story-- I did at times get a little bored and I attribute that to the glossing over of the really, heavy-hitting devastating parts of this story and the orphan's philosophical/thoughtful view we get of events.

Since I loved Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, I knew that I would love Songs of Willow Frost. I was right.Many of the elements are the same, Chinese Americans living in Seattle during the Great Depression. William Eng is a 12 year old boy who has been sent to a Catholic orphanage. He remembers his mother and struggles to understand why he's been sent away from her. The nuns only share information about families on the saint's day in November that has been declared the boys birthday. Girls share a birthday in the spring with another saint. But what the nun chooses to reveal is never enough to satisfy William.Songs of Willow Frost is a beautifully woven story of William and his mother, Willow's lives. The novel seamlessly flows between the past and the present, from Willow's point of view, to William's. Willow had two strikes against her from the start, being a woman of Chinese decent and a single mother. In the 1920's she had little chance to keep a child no matter what the circumstance. But she can sing. And sing she does to create a better life for herself.When William finds a flyer announcing a performance, he sneaks out of the orphanage to find her. Their reunion is not easy but only Willow can heal William's heart.Songs of Willow Frost will take you back in time and immerse you in a different era. It's an emotional story that will hold your heart. I couldn't put it down and neither will you.

Set in Seattle during the depression this is a story of a Chinese American boy who has been left at an orphanage as a toddler. He dreams of finding his mother of whom he remembers little snatches .His attempt with his blind friend to escape the awful life in the orphanage and find her are quite heart breaking. Amidst the poverty of the depression in America the plight of the immigrant chinese is quite unimaginable. A beautiful story of love, hope and betrayal it has everything , As good as The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by the same author, I loved it

Again, another beautifully written book by Jamie. He has such a wonderful way of drawing you in with his descriptions of places and people. He gives you such an insight into the Chinese culture. I do have to add that it would be very difficult to surpass Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. That was special.

Very interesting to find out how people were treated in the USA during this time. I hadn't realised how things were although I had a friend who had to marry in a different State because her husband was Chinese. Quite an eye-opener Also to learn how the Chinese regarded themselves. All we in the UK ever thought about was Apartheid in South Africa, without realising how bad things were in the States between races. A good book with a good ending. !

I read this book with great anticipation having read Jamie Fords previous novel,' Songs of Willow Frost' and thoroughly enjoyed it. However,I found it so harrowing, it was almost too much to bear! I loved the three main characters and to read about their misery and disappointments in such graphic detail, page after page was difficult. I couldn't put it down though, and read on in the hope of a happy ending -and for two of them it was. Just wish there had been more light and shade and perhaps a tad of humour occasionally.

I hose this rating because of the historical information and the captivating story. I enjoyed the portrayal of William and his relationship with his blind friend, but I felt sad that I didn't feel as close to Willow as I would have liked! I don't know why but I felt I couldn't get under her skin. I would recommend it, as I know many don't share my reservations.