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The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal (P.S.)
by: Lily Koppel

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Availability: Not yet published
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780061256783
ISBN: 0061256781
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: February 01, 2009
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: January 20, 2009
Sales Rank: 144415
Studio: Harper Perennial

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Product Description:

For more than half a century, the red leather diary languished inside a steamer trunk. 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. 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. 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.

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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Fun to read
Fun to read, made more so because it really happened. Wanted to go dumpster diving. Wanted to be that articulate and thoughtful when I was 14 years old!!

Rating:

- Flawless wonderful book never to be forgotten!
This is the most incredible book. I couldn't put it down. It is like a time machine, a glimpse into the past. One of the most skillfully written and researched books I have ever read. Buy a copy for you and give another as a gift to a friend! I have just finished the book and can't wait to read it again. THANK YOU MS. KOPPEL. This is the most rewarding fascinating book.

Rating:

- Interesting, unrealized
Florence Wolfson was a brilliant and ambitious teenager with artistic aspirations, and one wishes in retrospect that family friend Francis had given her a one-year diary instead of the five-year kind that allows for only a few sentences each day. Truly, I would rather have had a more complete picture of any one year than settle for the mere fragments of personality inherent in the restricted five-year format.

This biography was also curious: there would be excerpts from the diary, then explanation of the context. If it had been reversed, with context first, the diary entries would have made more sense. I imagine biographer Lily Koppel wanted the reader to share her puzzlement, but it weakened the flow of the narrative.

Koppel unfortunately doesn't have enough material to flesh out the cryptic and minimal notes in the five-year diary, so she resorts to lists of places, descriptions ... Read More

Rating:

- Told like a reporter
While the premise intrigued me, I gave up reading 1/3 way along. At first the pictures and time period held my interest, but the writing felt more like newspaper reporting than storytelling and I never became invested in the persona of Florence Wolfson.

This impetuous, strong-minded and creative young woman should have been an evocative character, but her exploits were chronicled with a distant and cool hand that left her sounding spoiled and foolish to me. The prose had less life than the brief entries in the diary. I couldn't help thinking that the cold home life alluded to here and there and such events as the house burning down would have had a dramatic effect on an emotional, imaginative girl, yet nothing is made of it at all. We're told Florence wanted to go to school the day after the fire to report the event--only for the dramatic shock effect! Wasn't it rather a plea for attention and/or ... Read More

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