The Paragon Hotel. Lyndsay Faye. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright January 2019. pb, 432 pp.; ISBN: 9780735210752.
Fasten
your seatbelt and get ready for a wild ride into the times of Prohibition –
from the jazz-filled clubs of Harlem to Portland, Oregon’s Paragon Hotel. The streets of Harlem are a mix of Negro
music and hoodlums vying for supremacy of territory. When “Nobody” Alice James arrives at the
Paragon Hotel, it’s with the help of the black Pullman porter, Max. He’s practically carrying her as she’s got a
very bad bullet wound in her gut. This
hotel is unique as Oregon has laws and visceral hatred for all people of
color. The KKK rules supreme although
they make it sound like a genial social club.
Slowly
but surely Alice meets the residents of this African-American hotel. There’s
Blossom, a dramatic young lady with a sweet, sultry voice that charms everyone
in her path. There’s a secret
relationship she has with a man known as Dr. Perkins who treats Blossom for a
secret condition. Then we meet several
other quirky characters who are ultra-dramatic but as endearing as the main
characters. They all are living in the
Paragon Hotel in fear. Alice James as
“Nobody” spares everyone initially from the hoodlum atmosphere in Harlem and
doesn’t share her total story until well into the novel. That’s okay as there are plenty of disputes,
dancing, drinking, costuming, etc. to totally rivet the reader to rapidly
flipping pages while frantically reading.
Each
of these characters may be said to have hearts of gold, with cords of
compassion and grit that protects, defends, exalts and empathizes with each
other when things get tough. No spoilers
here!
The
huge question concerning everyone is “Where is Davy?” Davy is a young African-American boy, somehow
associated with Blossom DuBois, who has disappeared. Some are frantic about finding him but if one
carefully observes the passing days, one notices that not everyone is searching
as if it were a matter of life and death.
The answer to these questions will provide an altogether unexpected
solution to many problems – one that will move readers to tears!!!
The Paragon Hotel
is a stunning historical novel that is also a mystery, romance, and thriller
that involves every color, class, religion of Prohibition era. You will revel in all of the saints and
sinners herein! This is one very
talented writer that will make you want to read her former novels and hope that
she will continue to create new stories that thrill the mind, heart and
soul! Highly recommended – stunning in
fact!
