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The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal
 
 

The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: red leather diary, flapper dress, The Red Leather, New York, Courtesy Florence Howitt (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

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  Paperback, January 31, 2009 $10.79 $8.57 $4.76

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  • This item: The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lily Koppel

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Koppel found the inspiration for this book, based on her 2006 New York Times article, after discovering Florence Wolfson’s diary in a Manhattan dumpster. Koppel eventually locates Florence in Florida and surprises the 90-year-old with this artifact from her past, which reveals her views on growing up as an intelligent, ambitious and creative teenager on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the 1930s. Florence received the diary as a present on her 14th birthday. She recorded everything from her first kiss (with a boy) to her crush on actress Eva Le Galliene (which led her to question her sexuality) to her passion for writing and art. The diary acts as a window into a fascinating and privileged world, one that Koppel tries to recreate by writing in a novelistic way, using no more than snippets of text from Florence’s diary and, we can presume, multiple interviews as support. The result, which some readers may find frustrating and others rewarding, is that the original inspiration—the diary itself—becomes no more than a starting point for a much larger story: that of Florence’s life.


From Booklist

In 2003, Koppel, a novice writer for the New York Times, stumbled upon an amazing discovery: the decades-old diary of a privileged teenaged Manhattanite penned between 1929 and 1934. Fascinated by entries detailing theater expeditions, shopping sprees, love interests, and grand ambitions, she put her journalistic skills to good use, tracking down the original owner of this faded and cracked red-leather treasure. Elated to discover 90-year-old Florence Wolfson alive, alert, and eager to share her memories of a bygone time and place, Koppel began interviewing Florence, interweaving the brief diary entries with more detailed personal anecdotes infused with the type of glamour and sophistication associated with a 1930s romantic comedy. 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. --Margaret Flanagan

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; 4th edition (April 8, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061256773
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061256776
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Lily Koppel
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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews
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4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Red Leather Diary, April 24, 2008
What a wonderful and magical read. Lily Koppel has done an amazing job of bringing the reader into the story, "seeing" Florence's life and NY in the 1930's. Florence did not care for "watered down personalities" and no wonder as she is such a forceful character. Before reading this I never imagined the freedom a young New Yorker might have. This woman was so precocious and open minded. You find yourself wondering how her parents managed and at the same time wishing for some of her moxie. Most interesting!
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read in a long time, April 25, 2008
By Suzanne Dunkleman (Bellevue, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is an amazing piece of history which reads like a novel and is highly recommended for all readers of all ages. As I read I thought, "In our age of television and video games, it is a shame we no longer have the personalities revealed here, the philosophers, the artists." But then I remembered young Lily Koppel not only rescued this diary from the dumpster, she followed through until she discovered Florence and produced this book. Thank you, Lily, and thank you Florence. I'm going to buy a copy for my grandma, just two years younger than the book's heroine, also named Florence and also still very much alive, alert, and full of fun.
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38 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars I'm mixed about this one..., May 14, 2008
By K. Huff (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
In 2003, a young journalist for the New York Times named Lily Koppel discovers the diary of Florence Wolfson, age 14, in a discarded steamer trunk on the Upper West Side. Investigation leads her to find out that Florence is still living. Upon visiting the 90-year-old, Florence tells Lily her story, of growing up in New York in the 192os and `30s. Florence grew up in an affluent Jewish family, and kept the diary for five years, from age 14 to 19. She was an active writer and artist. Florence attended a private girls' school and then Hunter College (then all women and now co-ed and part of the CUNY system), where she was active in the college literary magazine. Along the way she experimented with same-sex relationships and agonized over the behavior of boys, eventually marrying a childhood friend.

It seems like your typical coming-of-age story, except for the fact that Florence's is very much of the place and era she grew up in. Little facts about New York City are revealed: for example, for thirty years, there were little statues of Mercury mounted on top of all the stoplights in the city. That was one of the biggest draws of this book. Florence had a pretty average New York City childhood, all things considered; and adding in those little bits of arcane trivia really spiced things up for me.

There were a couple of problems I had with this book: first, Koppel spends an inordinate amount of time bragging about her accomplishments. The story is ultimately Florence's, and Lily talking about, say, a story she did once detracts from that. Koppel's prose seemed a little bit purpled and hackneyed; she also tries to make generalizations about the New York of today that ultimately don't ring true. Also, I thought the book would have been better if Florence had actually written it herself. She's a writer, so why not?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing story
This is an amazing story. And it reads like fiction. But it is not. And was written by A reporter for the New York Times, who found the diary. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Delores M. Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars The Red Leather Diary
I loved this book, It's amazing how this girl found the diary,and then to locate the owner.
This is a powerful story. I hope to find other books of this kind.
Published 25 days ago by Lucie Gumkowski

2.0 out of 5 stars Could Have, and Should Have Been Great
I had held off reading this book until I was flying towards a weekend getaway in NYC. Nothing beats reading a story about the area one is visiting. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Margo Jarosz

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed.
Our book group chose this on a recommendation from another group;many of us were very disappointed.
Published 1 month ago by D. Callery

4.0 out of 5 stars A Red Letter Book - What a Gem
I adored this book, perhaps because the author of the diary was a contemporary of my mother, who also grew up in New York. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ronni Rittenhouse

4.0 out of 5 stars An old diary is found...a new book is written....a wonderful memoir
Can you imagine being new to New York City, starting a new career as a journalist and stumbling upon a dumpster full to the brim with old steamer trunks? Read more
Published 3 months ago by Redlady

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written Memoir
This is a beautifully written story about a reporter finding a 75 year old diary, saved from a dumpster, and the remarkable life that is revealed in its pages. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Koppel

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
The premise was interesting but the execution poor. There is much information but little life in the telling of Frances' story. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Terry

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming book
I just finished "The Red Leather Diary" and thought it was a great book, and I am a picky reader. It's such a neat story how the author finds this old diary in a dumpster, about... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sarah Chase

4.0 out of 5 stars I loved the style and content
It surprises me to love the style after reading some reviews complaining about the journalistic telling of this story. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jennifer Donovan

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