She took 1930s New York by storm, working her way up writing copy for R.H. Macy’s to become the highest paid advertising woman in the country. It was a job that, she says, “in some ways saved my life, and in other ways ruined it.”
Now it’s the last night of 1984 and Lillian, 85 years old but just as sharp and savvy as ever, is on her way to a party. It’s chilly enough out for her mink coat and Manhattan is grittier now―her son keeps warning her about a subway vigilante on the prowl―but the quick-tongued poetess has never been one to scare easily. On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, she meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be, while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak, illuminating all the ways New York has changed―and has not.
A love letter to city life in all its guts and grandeur, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney paints a portrait of a remarkable woman across the canvas of a changing America: from the Jazz Age to the onset of the AIDS epidemic; the Great Depression to the birth of hip-hop.
Lillian figures she might as well take her time. For now, after all, the night is still young.
Oh how I loved this book! It reminded me of my Grandma and her stories of working at the department store Herpolsheimer’s. Memories of stores and restaurants we went to together when I was little and them now being long gone in her hometown. This brought to mind that this is also true in Chicago, the family diner we went to all the time. Marshall Fields, the big Carson Pierre Scott department store, all no longer the same. Stories Lillian told of going out with friends and dancing and parties were similar to the stories my grandma told me: stories of being out to dances, meeting fellas, being a working girl, saving for a special book or piece of jewelry. Great nostalgic memories in the story that brought back memories of stories told to me that I had long forgotten about.
Lillian, throughout the book goes over her life and her choices as she walks the city that she loves. Her love of the city and talking with strangers is absolute zen for me as well. Beautifully told this book will for sure be in my top ten for the year. The fact that Lillian and all her flaws are portrayed in such a beautiful way is a gift.
Peace.
