"A New York Times" journalist discovers a discarded old diary - a long-lost treasure that introduces her to an extraordinary woman and a glamourous, forgotten time. For decades it languished in an unclaimed trunk in the basement of a prewar building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, until it was tossed in a dumpster and recovered by journalist Lily Koppel. As she opened the diary's worn leather-bound cover, Koppel had no idea that she was about to embark on a wondrous journey back in time, to a lost New York in which women of privilege met for tea at Schrafft's, danced at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and toasted the night at El Morocco.Nor did she expect to be captivated by a headstrong and beautiful young woman who loved to play the piano, paint portraits and write poetry. Compelled by the hopes and dreams, drama and heartbreak captured in the diary's pages, Koppel set out to find it's original owner, the words, 'This book belongs to Florence Wolfson' the only clue. One day, a chance call by a private investigator leads Koppel to Wolfson, now 90 years old, living in Connecticut with her husband of 67 years. Wolfson is mesmerized by how well the diary had been preserved and the life she had almost forgotten filled with art, theater, salons and many lovers (chief among them Eva Le Gallienne and the son of an Italian count, Filippo Canaletti Gaudenti Da Sirola).

About the Author
Lily Koppel writes for the New York Times and other publications. She lives in New York City.

Reviews
"Skillful reporting, fine prose and [an] excellent eye for period detail... A story about not one but two lovable characters-and the city that brought them together." -- New York Times Book Review "Florence's life reads like E.L. 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... Together, Koppel and Florence take readers through a world dizzy with new ideas, rhythms and inventions." -- BookPage "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 "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. An entertaining and enjoyable work." -- Library Journal "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) "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 "Sparked by a felicitous discovery in an Upper West Side dumpster, New York Times writer Lily Koppel spins an enthralling true fairy tale about a Depression-era ingenue." -- Vogue "A window into a fascinating and privileged world... Rewarding." -- Publishers Weekly "THE RED LEATHER DIARY is a fascinating book-inventive and inspiring." -- Erica Jong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fear of Flying



Book Information
ISBN 9780061256783
Author Lily Koppel
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint HarperPerennial
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Weight(grams) 281g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 135mm * 20mm