Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Paragon Hotel
Lindsay Faye
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Paragon Hotel
Lindsay Faye
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Paragon Hotel, by Lindsay Faye, is the story of a girl named “Nothing” who rides the train to Portland, OR. She was shot in Harlem and is helped to exit the train by Max, the Negro porter. He takes her to the Paragon Hotel where a doctor treats her. The year is 1921, Portland is a Jim Crow city and the hotel’s black lodgers are terrified of a white woman in their midst. The KKK is strong here. This is based on fact, but is creative fiction.
Mavereen and Blossom banter back and forth in her room as Nothing listens silently. Nothing tells us how she got to this point in her life. The Mafia in Harlem is as strong as the KKK is in Portland. Salvatice was determined to make her a prostitute. Max, Blossom, and Mavareen become her friends. Now, at the Paragon Hotel, she has a suitcase with $50,000 dollars in it. When two policemen arrive at the hotel, they confiscate (almost) all the whiskey there and knock Max to the floor. Nothing says she’s writing a book about the hotel. Author Faye has her tongue in cheek all the way. Add to this humor a lot of suspense.
In her past life in Harlem, Nobody was saved from prostitution by Nicolo, and was employed by Mr. Mangiapane. Now, Blossom and Miss Christina show Nobody (now Alice James) around Portland, OR, and take her to the amusement park. Davy, the young mulatto orphan boy Blossom has adopted, goes with them. But somewhere along the way, he disappears. They search everywhere and enlist the help of their friends at the Paragon Hotel.
Alice James goes to the home of the chief of police. His wife, Evalina, a friend of Blossom’s, comes in after being away all night. She is a sight, covered in mud and leaves. Author Faye darts from then to now in alternating chapters, giving us the back story of Alice’s life. Alice goes with Blossom to a sawdust barge at the docks to hear Blossom sing. She is a sensation. When Officer Overton comes into the club, he drags Alice upstairs to the second floor and throws her on a bed then unbuttons his pants. Blossom arrives in the nick of time, with a pistol in hand and aims it at Overton. Alice and Blossom get away fast. Will Overton come to justice because of Evalina and her husband, the police chief?
In the Past, several gruesome murders have done away with Mafia members. Nobody thinks Nicolo has done them, forgetting the part she has also played. Now, the blacks searching for Davy meet the KKK at the amusement park. Evalina stops them from violence until her husband can arrive. All the characters are involved. Will they find Davy? Whose child is he really? Will Alice find a lover? The denouement will surprise your socks off. Find this interesting book on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Mavereen and Blossom banter back and forth in her room as Nothing listens silently. Nothing tells us how she got to this point in her life. The Mafia in Harlem is as strong as the KKK is in Portland. Salvatice was determined to make her a prostitute. Max, Blossom, and Mavareen become her friends. Now, at the Paragon Hotel, she has a suitcase with $50,000 dollars in it. When two policemen arrive at the hotel, they confiscate (almost) all the whiskey there and knock Max to the floor. Nothing says she’s writing a book about the hotel. Author Faye has her tongue in cheek all the way. Add to this humor a lot of suspense.
In her past life in Harlem, Nobody was saved from prostitution by Nicolo, and was employed by Mr. Mangiapane. Now, Blossom and Miss Christina show Nobody (now Alice James) around Portland, OR, and take her to the amusement park. Davy, the young mulatto orphan boy Blossom has adopted, goes with them. But somewhere along the way, he disappears. They search everywhere and enlist the help of their friends at the Paragon Hotel.
Alice James goes to the home of the chief of police. His wife, Evalina, a friend of Blossom’s, comes in after being away all night. She is a sight, covered in mud and leaves. Author Faye darts from then to now in alternating chapters, giving us the back story of Alice’s life. Alice goes with Blossom to a sawdust barge at the docks to hear Blossom sing. She is a sensation. When Officer Overton comes into the club, he drags Alice upstairs to the second floor and throws her on a bed then unbuttons his pants. Blossom arrives in the nick of time, with a pistol in hand and aims it at Overton. Alice and Blossom get away fast. Will Overton come to justice because of Evalina and her husband, the police chief?
In the Past, several gruesome murders have done away with Mafia members. Nobody thinks Nicolo has done them, forgetting the part she has also played. Now, the blacks searching for Davy meet the KKK at the amusement park. Evalina stops them from violence until her husband can arrive. All the characters are involved. Will they find Davy? Whose child is he really? Will Alice find a lover? The denouement will surprise your socks off. Find this interesting book on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.