Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney.  287 pages

"It’s the last day of 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish is about to take a walk."

Lillian decides to walk across Manhattan on the evening of New Year's Eve, with the idea that she's going to a friend's party.  Along the way, she recalls her long and eventful life that included a brief reign as the highest-paid advertising woman in America, her marriage, motherhood, and more. She also meets several people along the way, including bodega clerks, security guards, children, criminals, and others.

This is a great book.

I found myself completely absorbed in the story when I was reading and I really enjoyed the main character.  She really comes alive in the first few paragraphs, and I found myself fascinated by her, and her observations on life and the people around her.  She's a realist, to be sure, but not without humor.  Written in a way that goes back and forth in time, I never felt like I was out of sync with the story.  Instead, you get the feel of a measured stroll with someone who is telling you stories of her life.  And what a life!  Lillian reminded me a bit of one of my grandmothers, who was an unusual woman in her own right (and who I often lovingly described as a force of nature). Lillian doesn't mince words, but she approaches things in a measured way, with intellect and wit.  That's not to say that every moment of her life is filled with joy; Lillian has some heartbreaking moments in her life. However, I never felt like these were amplified in the book, and instead, just part of her life, and told in the same straightforward way as the rest of Lillian's stories and reflections.

I felt utterly transported by this book, and both satisfied when I finished it . . . and then feeling like I wanted to begin reading it all over again immediately.  This one's going to be one I purchase for my own collection, and probably a few gifts for some people, as well.

The author does include notes at the end of the story, because she was inspired by a real person, Margaret Fishback (which I think is so cool!).