- Category: Books » Biography & Autobiography » Women
- Format: Paperback Learn more about the Paperback format using Tower WIKI.
- Publisher: Harper Perennial
- Number of Pages: 288
- ISBN: 0061256781
- WAPI (Tower ID): 112218394
- Release Date: February 1, 2009
- Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
- Tower.com Sales Rank: #70531 in Books (See Top 100 Books Bestsellers)
- #1906 in Biography & Autobiography (See Top 100 Biography & Autobiography Bestsellers)
- #43 in Women (See Top 100 Women Bestsellers)
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Product DescriptionRun a Quick Search on "The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal" by Lily Koppel and Florence Howitt to Browse Related Products:Browse more products related to "The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal"Browse more products related to "Lily Koppel and Florence Howitt"Publisher's noteA portrait based on the author's front-page New York Times Sunday City section traces her search for the writer of a diary who recorded the experiences of her privileged life in 1930s Manhattan. Reprint. 25,000 first printing. AnnotationTwenty-two year old journalist Lily Koppel was on her way to work as an editorial assistant at the New York Times when she spotted an antique steamer trunk in a trash-filled dumpster. Inside, she found vintage 1920s clothing and a leather-bound diary that recorded the daily adventures, heartbreaks, melodramas, and affairs of teenager Florence Wolfson, all diligently and passionately recorded from 1929 to 1934. Koppel then hired a private detective to track down the 90-year-old Wolfson, who had long since forgotten her diary and abandoned her love of theater, art, and her bisexual dalliances, for a "bland" life and a six-decade marriage. THE RED LEATHER DIARY combines Koppel's vivid reportage, Wolfson's wistful memories of her vanished youth, and the exuberance of the diary itself to create a wonderful testament to the mysteries and fleeting joys of our normal yet miraculous lives. 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. For more than half a century, the red leather diary lay silent, languishing inside a steamer trunk, its worn cover crumbling into little flakes. When a cleaning sweep of a New York City apartment building brings this lost treasure to light, both the diary and its owner are given a second life. Recovered by Lily Koppel, a young writer working at the "New York Times," the journal paints a vivid picture of 1930s New York--horseback riding in Central Park, summer excursions to the Catskills, and an obsession with a famous avant-garde actress. From 1929 to 1934, not a single day's entry is skipped. Opening the tarnished brass lock, Koppel embarks on a journey into the past, traveling to a New York in which women of privilege meet for tea at Schrafft's, dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and toast the night at El Morocco. As she turns the diary's brittle pages, Koppel is captivated by the headstrong young woman whose intimate thoughts and emotions fill the pale blue lines. Who was this lovely ingenue who adored the works of Baudelaire and Jane Austen, who was sexually curious beyond her years, who traveled to Rome, Paris, and London? Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel sets out to find the diary's owner, her only clue the inscription on the frontispiece--"This book belongs to . . . "Florence Wolfson,"" A chance phone call from a private investigator leads Koppel to Florence, a ninety-year-old woman living with her husband of sixty-seven years. Reunited with her diary, Florence venturesback to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor. Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, Koppel reveals the world of a New York teenager obsessed with the state of her soul and her appearance, and muses on the serendipitous chain of events that returned the lost journal to its owner. Evocative and entrancing, "The Red Leather Diary" re-creates 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. If You Enjoy "The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal (Paperback)", May We Also Recommend:Customer Reviews for "The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal (Paperback)" by Lily Koppel (Author) and Flore...There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review! Women Bestsellers
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