As in his previous two novels, Jamie Ford’s latest offering is a poignant exploration of heritage, family, race, sacrifice, and perseverance. Mr. Ford excels at bringing Asian history in America to light in stories that are unapologetic in exposing prejudice while remaining unfailingly humane and tender. Love and Other Consolation Prizes unfolds against a parallel backdrop—the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 and the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962—and follows the journey of a young half-Chinese boy from the age of five into adulthood.

What I enjoy most about and have come to expect of Mr. Ford’s novels is the exposure to culture and history with which I am not familiar, and the author followed through on that expectation with this novel as well. The writing style is elegant and shifts this novel from historical fiction into the upmarket fiction vein, and the theme of the human tendency to cling tenaciously to hope is one that resonates.

That said, this is not my favorite of Mr. Ford’s books. The pacing was slow to the point of tedium at times, and the transition between past and present was stilted and jarring in places. While the characters was colourful and drawn with tenderness and compassion, I was left with the impression of a flat, clichéd cast throughout. The main character is torn between two women, and his indecision, indeed his refusal to even consider making a choice at all, became frustrating. There are two key pieces of information that the author attempted to withhold from his audience throughout the course of the story. Since I found both to be obvious, I found the effect to be annoying and manipulative instead of one that made me want to continue to turn the pages.

Mr. Ford does a brilliant job of drawing the dark, seedy side of Asian American history into the light and treating the issues with incredible sensitivity and eloquence. But Love and Other Consolation Prizes was not his strongest offering, and while I enjoyed aspects of the read, others left me dissatisfied.