Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

New Year’s Eve, 1984. Join 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish on a 10 mile walk around Manhattan.

Lillian Boxfish, former ad writer, poet, mother, and lover of New York City, spends the evening walking around Manhattan reminiscing about her past and experiencing the sometimes gritty reality of New York in the 80s. The character Lillian was inspired by a real person, Margaret Fishback, who, like Lillian, was the highest-paid female advertising copywriter writer in the world during the 1930s. Her walk takes us through time, from the 1930s when her career began, to the 1980s and the rise of the AIDS epidemic.
This well-written, engaging novel is a reminder, for me, that browsing the shelves at the library and choosing a book just because the title catches your eye can be a rewarding experience.