Love and Other Consolation Prizes

1909, Seattle. At the World's Fair a half-Chinese boy called Ernest Young is raffled off as a prize. He ends up working in a brothel in Seattle's famed Red Light District and falls in love with Maisie, the daughter of a flamboyant madam, and Fahn, a karayuki-san, a Japanese maid sold into servitude.
On the eve of the new World's Fair in 1962, Ernest looks back on the past, the memories he made with his beloved wife while his daughter, a reporter, begins to unravel their tragic past.




Genre: Historical

"A gripping story about the unpredictability of life - particularly the life of an immigrant; the poignancy of surviving; and above all, the incredible power of love to heal even the most shameful wounds. Jamie Ford has created a fascinating world, bookended by Seattle’s two World Fairs, and peopled it with colorful, brave characters we care deeply about in this masterful job of storytelling." - Melanie Benjamin

"If your book club wants to fall in love with a novel, look no further than Love and Other Consolation Prizes. This is an evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history. Jamie Ford at his storytelling best." - Kristin Hannah

"An epic and touching love story of a raffled-off orphan boy named Ernest and the two girls he loves - one for now, one forever. Set against the backdrop of old Seattle, Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a tenderly defiant testimony to the soaring value of a human being, even the most forgotten among us." - Kathy Hepinstall

"Only Jamie Ford could take a snippet of a true story about a child offered as a raffle prize at the 1909 Seattle World’s Fair and spin it into a dazzling tale of love and family and ultimately hope. Love and Other Consolation Prizes has the big generous heart Ford always brings to his novels and fans will rejoice in it." - Ann Hood

"How does a novel genius top himself? Jamie Ford’s newest takes an extraordinary moment in history, where vice lives alongside innocence, and transforms it into a dazzling, hold-your-breath story about the families we make and the ones we are thrust into, about who we are, and who we dreamed we could be. Irresistibly magnificent!" - Caroline Leavitt

"Heartbreaking, wondrous, triumphant." - Ken Liu

"Ford is a master at shining light into dark, forgotten corners of history and revealing the most unexpected and relatable human threads. Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a beautiful and enthralling story of resilience and the many permutations of love." - Jessica Shattuck