The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

THE PARAGON HOTEL by Lyndsay Faye is an exciting mystery and a fun read with serious undertones, described as “blending film noir and screwball comedy” by The Wall Street Journal. This new novel, set mostly in the Prohibition-era 1920s, revolves around Alice James (who is called Nobody for her ability to fade into the background).  It alternates between her life in New York’s Harlem, where she works for The Spider and his gang fighting the Clutched Hand and organized crime, and her escape to Portland, Oregon where she recovers from bullet wounds at The Paragon, the city’s Black owned and run hotel.   

On both coasts, readers meet Alice’s friends and associates, adopted families of a sort. These include childhood playmate Nicolo Benenati, Harry Chipchase (a corrupt cop), Blossom Fontaine (an African American singer), and do-gooder Evelina Vaughan (also wife of Portland’s Chief of Police), plus many more. On the West Coast, a little mulatto boy goes missing and the Klan is becoming increasingly active and brazen in their threatening actions. Alice sets out to help her friends and solve the disappearance while also reflecting on the actions which brought her to Portland.  Throughout, her voice is caustic and observant:

“The truth is, I’ve been shoving thoughts underwater like unwanted puppies.  When your world is emptied, you cling to strangers…”

“I remember fleeing New York, still adrift with the shock and clutching my carpetbag as if it were a tree limb midriver.”

And describing the teacher of the weekly Self-Betterment classes at The Paragon as “top drawer in a very tall bureau.”

As the author notes explain, Faye’s historical fiction is based on fact and she uses excerpts from local papers and period speeches to encourage readers to think about Oregon’s racist history, including the Klan’s slogan advocating America First.  For more on the Klan in this time period, especially in the northern states, see Linda Gordon’s The Second Coming of the KKK. Definitely worth a read, THE PARAGON HOTEL received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.

LibraryReads Selection Ideas

It is almost Thanksgiving and that long break from school and work may provide a nice window to sit down and relax with a longer read.  There is certainly plenty of choice – with recent National Book Awards announcement, The New York Times’ list of Notable Books being released this week, and voting ongoing for Goodreads Choice Awards.  Here, I am going to note several LibraryReads selections – some of the 10 books chosen each month by librarians to recommend to their patrons:

I look forward to and definitely recommend titles by Kate Morton, international bestselling author of The House at Riverton, since she offers a kind of Gothic mystery that both challenges and entertains. There’s suspense and a bit of romantic tension in each, including her latest, THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER which was a LibraryReads selection in October. In this novel, which bridges 150 years, Morton introduces Edward Radcliffe and his artistic associates who are spending the summer of 1862 at Birchwood Manor on the upper Thames. Intending to escape and focus on creative endeavors, they instead experience a murder, a disappearance, and a jewelry theft. Once again, Morton features a house that bears witness through generations as a modern day archivist, Elodie Winslow, discovers a photo and drawing which prompts her hunt for family connections. Pick up this novel if you are looking for historical fiction dealing with art and secrets; THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  

 

A LibraryReads selection in September, TRANSCRIPTION by Kate Atkinson is another suspenseful work of historical fiction set during the Second World War and 1950s London. The main character is Juliet who at 18 is first employed to rather naively transcribe wartime conversations for the British intelligence service, MI5, and who increasingly becomes involved in espionage activities, and later works as a BBC producer on children’s programming.  Once again, Atkinson describes how events and choices reverberate across time, causing the reader to reflect on the meaning of patriotism, on guilt, and on fate’s tragic repercussions.  TRANSCRIPTION received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.

VIRGIL WANDER by Leif Enger (Peace Like a River) was an October LibraryReads selection and could easily work as a Junior Theme choice given the publisher’s description as a “timeless all-American story that follows the inhabitants of a small Midwestern town in their quest to revive its flagging heart.” Virgil’s car runs off the road into Lake Superior near Greenstone, Minnesota and he suffers memory loss as a result.  Virgil’s subsequent and sometimes humorous interactions with residents (including a romantic interest, a best friend and newspaper editor, and a pet raccoon called Genghis) and also visitors (like Rune, a fan of kite flying who is looking for his long lost son) charmingly chronicles attempts at recovery for both Virgil and the town. VIRGIL WANDER received starred reviews from Library Journal (“surprises and delights throughout”) and Booklist (“Virgil's narration is a joy: he lost his adjectives in the crash, making for their gleeful insertion each time he remembers one.”).

 

THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean is actually a narrative non-fiction work that tells the story of the Los Angeles Public Library fire which occurred in 1986. This text, too, includes a bit of a mystery given that the cause of the fire was suspicious and Orlean deftly explores the story of suspect Harry Peak.  She also comments on her own relationship with books and reading, especially reflecting on childhood visits to the library with her mother. Overall, this is a fascinating look at library operations. Please see the video below for more visual detail from a PBS NewsHour interview with author Susan Orlean:

A LibraryReads selection in October and recipient of starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal, THE LIBRARY BOOK will be appreciated by bibliophiles and fans of libraries everywhere.