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A review by winstonandbooks
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
4.0
Mrs. Snider clucks, reaching for my hand. “You poor dear. Now, I don’t pretend to know everything about politics either, but I do keep abreast through Fred, thinking it my civic duty now women have the vote, and you needn’t worry over the KKK in this city. America first, they say, and. Well, who can argue with that?”
This is a hard book to review. I was very drawn in by the setting of 1920s Portland OR, since I am a history teacher and have lived my entire life in Portland. This state has such a racist past that is not well known or discussed, so I jumped on the chance to read a book exploring it. And I have always been captivated by 1920s America.
The book is certainly encapsulating and you feel like you are transported back in time. I love the narrator’s voice and the author’s writing style. The primary source quotations at the beginning of each chapter were powerful and haunting, especially within today’s political and social climate. But I can’t help feel like something was missing from the story, something the author could have explored or covered more. I can't exactly put my finger on it.
Maybe I had too high expectations going into the book. It could also be because the book shifts from “then” and “now,” with “then” covering the main character’s time in New York, which goes back to the early 1900s-1920s, to the present day 1920s in Portland. The “then” chapters are definitely weaker than the “now” ones. There are also a lot of characters to keep track of, that are not as developed as the main ones, but who play an important role in the story, which can lessen the emotional investment and bring about slight confusion (“this is an important moment and plot reveal! but wait, who is this character again?”) I love the setting of the book and the writing style and the story (which is why it’s at 4 stars), but I walk away from the book feeling like something was missing (which, if I wasn’t as interested in the history or enchanted by the writing, would probably make this book 3 stars).
This is a hard book to review. I was very drawn in by the setting of 1920s Portland OR, since I am a history teacher and have lived my entire life in Portland. This state has such a racist past that is not well known or discussed, so I jumped on the chance to read a book exploring it. And I have always been captivated by 1920s America.
The book is certainly encapsulating and you feel like you are transported back in time. I love the narrator’s voice and the author’s writing style. The primary source quotations at the beginning of each chapter were powerful and haunting, especially within today’s political and social climate. But I can’t help feel like something was missing from the story, something the author could have explored or covered more. I can't exactly put my finger on it.
Maybe I had too high expectations going into the book. It could also be because the book shifts from “then” and “now,” with “then” covering the main character’s time in New York, which goes back to the early 1900s-1920s, to the present day 1920s in Portland. The “then” chapters are definitely weaker than the “now” ones. There are also a lot of characters to keep track of, that are not as developed as the main ones, but who play an important role in the story, which can lessen the emotional investment and bring about slight confusion (“this is an important moment and plot reveal! but wait, who is this character again?”) I love the setting of the book and the writing style and the story (which is why it’s at 4 stars), but I walk away from the book feeling like something was missing (which, if I wasn’t as interested in the history or enchanted by the writing, would probably make this book 3 stars).