What I’m Reading: Songs of Willow Frost

I’ve been on a roll with some good books lately and I hope I keep finding them.  I just finished up listening to the audio book version of Songs of Willow Frost: A Novel by Jamie Ford.

The book is really good.  I love historical fiction.  I always feel like I am learning and enjoying a good story at the same time. I knew very little about Chinese culture in the early 1800’s.  I knew little about early movie making too.  I learned some about each topic.  There is heartbreak and sorrow…sadness and some triumphs.  It’s a coming of age story for two character in the book.

Here’s what Amazon had to say about the book, “From Jamie Ford, author of the beloved Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, comes a much-anticipated second novel. Set against the backdrop of Depression-era Seattle, Songs of Willow Frost is a powerful tale of two souls—a boy with dreams for his future and a woman escaping her haunted past—both seeking love, hope, and forgiveness.
 
Twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese American boy, has lived at Seattle’s Sacred Heart Orphanage ever since his mother’s listless body was carried away from their small apartment five years ago. On his birthday—or rather, the day the nuns designate as his birthday—William and the other orphans are taken to the historical Moore Theatre, where William glimpses an actress on the silver screen who goes by the name of Willow Frost. Struck by her features, William is convinced that the movie star is his mother, Liu Song.
 
Determined to find Willow and prove that his mother is still alive, William escapes from Sacred Heart with his friend Charlotte. The pair navigate the streets of Seattle, where they must not only survive but confront the mysteries of William’s past and his connection to the exotic film star. The story of Willow Frost, however, is far more complicated than the Hollywood fantasy William sees onscreen.
 
Shifting between the Great Depression and the 1920s, Songs of Willow Frost takes readers on an emotional journey of discovery. Jamie Ford’s sweeping novel will resonate with anyone who has ever longed for the comforts of family and a place to call home.”

I had always thought I would like the author’s first book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet but never got around to reading it.  In light of how much I liked this book, I’m planning on checking to see if my online library has that book as well.

Amazon readers say 4 stars…I am guessing the book version might be a little slow and might agree with that but I listened to my version and that I would give 4.5 stars.  All in all-worth your time!!