Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Analysis

Seattle, Washington during World War II and the 1980s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet takes place in Seattle, Washington, the city where Henry lives his entire life. Whether we're spending...

Third Person (Limited Omniscient) Although Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is told in the third person, readers can delve into Henry Lee's thoughts and feelings—which is good since this i...

Coming of Age Nothing says coming of age quite like choosing to follow your heart despite your father's threats to disown you if you do—which is exactly what Henry does in Hotel on the Corner of...

Nostalgia Overload Because much of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet deals with Henry Lee's memories of his childhood, particularly his first love, the entire book is tinged with nostalgia an...

In Vivid Detail The writing style of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is poetic and filled with vivid details that bring the setting—and particularly the World War II time period—to life...

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet refers to the Panama Hotel, and the descriptors of both "bitter" and "sweet" are a shout-out to how emotionally charged the place is. It's so emotionally cha...

My poor heart is sentimental Not made of woodI got it bad and that ain't good. - Duke Ellington, 1941 What's up with the epigraph? Of course the epigraph for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet...

The book ends at the moment when Henry and Keiko meet again after so many years, and he starts to say the one Japanese phrase he knows to her—the one Sheldon taught him so many years earlier that...

(3) Base Camp Good news: the language in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet isn't technically difficult, and while the story switches back and forth between different periods in time, it's pre...

Times of War When the story opens, we learn that the main character, Henry Lee, is growing up during World War II. Because he's Chinese, people are often openly hostile to him because they assume h...

The Panama Hotel is an actual real place in Seattle and still serves tea and takes in guests to this day. (Source.) Even though Henry, Keiko, and Sheldon are all made-up characters, Oscar Holden w...

PG Despite the fact that Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet deals with adolescents in the throes of first love, the entire experience is pretty chaste. Henry and Keiko don't even realize that...

Historical ReferencesPresident Roosevelt Internment of Japanese Americans World War II Pop Culture ReferencesOscar Holden