Review: The Paragon Hotel

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Paragon Hotel is a fictionalized account of the one hotel in Portland that allowed customers of color through the 1930s, and the surrounding racism of the times.

(I grew up in Oregon with 4th and 8th grade focused on Oregon history but we never learned about this, however it explains a lot... Even today Portland is 72% white!)

I enjoyed the part of the novel set in Portland, but the parallel story set in Harlem seemed less realistic and maybe unnecessary, somewhat clogging the storyline. This is a good read for people who like the flapper jazz era but are looking for a spin on the usual.

I had an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley, and the book came out January 8, 2019.

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