First published 2014
The International Hotel has a new owner. A Hong Kong multinational corporation now controls the historic Chinatown residence, and its tenants know change is coming. Felix and Macario split their attention between two projects during this Year of the Tiger. They travel south to Delano, where they construct a retirement home for Filipino farmworkers who have spent decades laboring in California's fields. Back in San Francisco, they monitor the shifting dynamics at the International Hotel, where residents grow increasingly anxious about their corporate landlord's intentions. The hotel serves as more than shelter for its diverse community of Asian American residents. It stands as a symbol of their place in a city undergoing rapid transformation. As Felix and Macario navigate between their construction work and their concern for their Chinatown neighbors, they embody the broader struggle of working class Asian Americans caught between progress and displacement, between building new futures and preserving existing communities.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, asian-american
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, social-commentary
Setting: California, Chinatown, Delano, Hong Kong, International Hotel, San Francisco
Period: 1974, Year of the Tiger
94 pages · Kindle Edition · Coffee House Press