The tale of "Nobody" Alice James begins on a train to Portland, Oregon in 1921. She is trying to disguise the fact that she has a serious bullet wound and ends up aided by the black Pullman porter on the train. He takes her to the Paragon Hotel, an establishment restricted to Portland's black community. Oregon is a state determined to remain white and the KKK has made its presence known. The residents and managers of the hotel are understandably nervous about having a white woman on the premises, especially one who refuses to divulge just how she was shot. She is taken under the wing of Miss Blossom Fontaine, a local entertainer with secrets of her own. When a young mixed-race boy disappears, Alice James may be the only one able to assist in getting the authorities to find him. The story flashes back to her life in New York where "Nobody's" connection to the Mafia leads to her desperate journey to escape. Surprise revelations about the characters crop up throughout the story which is both tragic and hopeful. I listened to the Overdrive audio version which was adequately read by January LaVoy.
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