![]() ![]() " New York Times writer Lily Koppel's The Red Leather Diary melds three life-affirming subjects-Florence Wolfson's journal of life in 1930s Manhattan, Koppel's discovery of it in a Dumpster decades later, and the meeting of the two women-into one enchanting memoir." - Elle "In The Red Leather Diary, Lily Koppel finds an old journal in a Dumpster, gets lost in its rich take on 1930s New York and, improbably, tracks down the now-90-year-old woman whose life-real and imagined-fills its worn pages." - Reader's Digest (Editors' Choice) An entertaining and enjoyable work." - Library Journal "Koppel's love of New York is obvious in the details she draws from Florence's diary, which show how the city has changed in ways both big and small. "After a front-page story appeared in the New York Times Sunday City section, interest in Florence's fascinating story prompted the author to write a full-length book that works as both a biography and a spellbinding glimpse into a vanished era." - Booklist Together, Koppel and Florence take readers through a world dizzy with new ideas, rhythms and inventions." - BookPage Doctorow's Ragtime in places, with all the famous paths crossed and situations experienced while descriptions of city life recall Marjorie Hart's Summer at Tiffany. It's an extraordinary story about coming of age, following your dreams and discovering (or rediscovering) who you are, were and want to be." - Parade The Red Leather Diary is Koppel's tribute to both the tempestuous girl she came to know on paper and the older, more even-tempered women she grew to love in real life. "A world straight from the pages of an F. Koppel writes with flair." - Chicago Tribune Much of the book's emotional power derives from the drama of an old woman reclaiming a past that was almost lost to her. Conjures up a romantic version of the Manhattan of Howitt's youth." - Washington Post Book World "Offers a glimpse of a bygone era in Manhattan-all the lovelier because Koppel was able to track down the writer, now a glamorous-looking Connecticut resident in her 90s." - New York Times A story about not one but two lovable characters-and the city that brought them together." - New York Times Book Review "Skillful reporting, fine prose and excellent eye for period detail. Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, The Red Leather Diary re-creates the romance and promise of a remarkable era and brings to life the true story of a daring, precocious young dreamer. Intrigued, Koppel followed her only clue, a frontispiece inscription, to its now ninety-year-old owner, Florence Wolfson, and was enchanted as Florence, reunited with her diary, rediscovered a lost younger self burning with artistic fervor. The diary painted a breathtaking portrait of a bygone New York-of glamorous nights at El Morocco and elegant teas at Schrafft's during the 1920s and '30s-and of the headstrong, endearing teenager who filled its pages with her hopes, heartaches, and vivid recollections. Rescued from a Dumpster on Manhattan's Upper West Side, it found its way to Lily Koppel, a young writer, who opened its tarnished brass lock and journeyed into an enthralling past. Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, The Red Leather Diary is an evocative and entrancing work that recreates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.įor more than half a century, the red leather diary languished inside a steamer trunk. Eventually reunited with her diary, Florence ventured back to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor. Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel set out to find the diary's owner, a 90-year old woman named Florence. Opening the tarnished brass lock of a red leather diary found in the basement of a New York City apartment building, New York Times writer Lily Koppel embarked on a journey into the past. Rescued from a Dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman An extraordinary story about coming of age, following your dreams and discovering (or rediscovering) who you are, were and want to be." - Parade Evocative and entrancing, "The Red Leather Diary" recreates the romance and glitter of 1930s New York. About the Book A "New York Times" journalist discovers a discarded old diary-a find that introduces her to an extraordinary woman-Florence Wolfson-and a glamorous, forgotten time. ![]()
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