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A review by karnaconverse
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
5.0
Mixes equal parts of history, mystery, and prejudice with love and friendship to create an intricate and intriguing story set in 1921
Alice "Nobody" James is no stranger to crime—born and raised in a Raines law hotel controlled by the New York mafia—but is taken aback by the racist lawlessness she encounters in Portland, Oregon. This city is her new home only because it was the farthest she could get from the life of corruption she was destined to be part of in NYC. She comes to the Paragon Hotel in need of help but the skills she learned on the streets help her become an integral player in figuring out how—and why--a young mulatto boy has gone missing. She, a Welsh Italian; her new family at the Paragon Hotel, black.
Every word, phrase, and dialogue exchange Faye writes is poignant and smart. She describes prohibition, the mafia, the Ku Klux Klan, and the culture of the early 1900s through multiple eyes—white, black, man, woman, child, mobster, war veteran, immigrant, business owner, public servant, socialite. The story of Alice's life emerges in seamless fashion in chapters marked Now and Then, each opening with quoted text from a newspaper or book that sets the tone and gives context to the times.
For me, the Historical Note at the end of the book was an added bonus to the story. Here, she puts racist and social issues on a timeline that goes back as far as the early Oregon settlers of 1844 and explains how the story's characters came to be. I especially appreciated learning about her writing process in this blog post from her website. In response to a reader who asked about her research process, she wrote:
Faye's novel has encouraged me to learn more about the social issues of this time period and to consider how they affected—and continue to affect--the culture we live in today.
The Paragon Hotel was chosen for me by my local bookseller as part of a mystery bag purchase. She chose well!
Alice "Nobody" James is no stranger to crime—born and raised in a Raines law hotel controlled by the New York mafia—but is taken aback by the racist lawlessness she encounters in Portland, Oregon. This city is her new home only because it was the farthest she could get from the life of corruption she was destined to be part of in NYC. She comes to the Paragon Hotel in need of help but the skills she learned on the streets help her become an integral player in figuring out how—and why--a young mulatto boy has gone missing. She, a Welsh Italian; her new family at the Paragon Hotel, black.
Every word, phrase, and dialogue exchange Faye writes is poignant and smart. She describes prohibition, the mafia, the Ku Klux Klan, and the culture of the early 1900s through multiple eyes—white, black, man, woman, child, mobster, war veteran, immigrant, business owner, public servant, socialite. The story of Alice's life emerges in seamless fashion in chapters marked Now and Then, each opening with quoted text from a newspaper or book that sets the tone and gives context to the times.
For me, the Historical Note at the end of the book was an added bonus to the story. Here, she puts racist and social issues on a timeline that goes back as far as the early Oregon settlers of 1844 and explains how the story's characters came to be. I especially appreciated learning about her writing process in this blog post from her website. In response to a reader who asked about her research process, she wrote:
"I like to get a wider map in my hands before exploring the streets and poking under the dirty crates, if that makes sense? Get a good handle on the religion, politics, social shifts, mores, etc. Once you have read multiple works regarding the same time period that focus on different social perspectives, you'll start to have a much better handle on what people thought and felt and where the divisions lay. . . . After that, I do microscopic research, and that's the fun part. . . . Additionally, I always return to my macroscopic research materials and plunder their indexes: where did they get all this very authentic and academically documented information? . . . The important thing to remember about not going down the research rabbit hole is that the only information that TRULY matters at the end of the day is what evokes feelings in your protagonist."
Faye's novel has encouraged me to learn more about the social issues of this time period and to consider how they affected—and continue to affect--the culture we live in today.
The Paragon Hotel was chosen for me by my local bookseller as part of a mystery bag purchase. She chose well!