Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
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.
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.
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