Were I off in the pastoral hills shingling my own roof or riding a horse, well then, what fun. I always wanted either to be in, or get away from the city, not to just be close to the city. Taking to the pavement always helps me find new routes around whatever problem I’m trying to solve: phrases on signs, overheard conversations, the interplay between the rhythms of my verse and the rhythm of my feet.Īnd Lillian’s preference for living in the city, as opposed to the suburbs, but liking the ability to go on little escapes could have come out of my mouth: I’m a great believer in walking to clear my head, boost my creativity and find solutions to problems. I had a grand old time highlighting passages that appealed to me: the book is dotted with “wisdoms” and viewpoints that chime with my own. Mind you, there are some heart-rending moments, too, which knocks the self-confidence out of Lillian and lets the reader see her in a new, more human, light. Plus, her tale is laced with plenty of self-deprecating humour and great one liners so it’s a fun read - and the advertising poems dotted throughout give a light-hearted tone to the narrative. Macy’s and was the highest-paid female advertising copywriter in the world during the 1930s, the book is as much about one woman’s rise to the top of a male-dominated industry as it is about the changing fortunes of Manhattan, from the Prohibition era in the 1920s to sky-high homicide rates in the 1980s.Īdmittedly, I didn’t much warm to Lillian, whose tone of voice is forthright and arrogant (what you might call brimming with chutzpah), but her story is such a fascinating one it hardly seemed to matter.

Said to be inspired by the life of Margaret Fishback, who worked at R.H. I simply switched the brain into neutral and enjoyed accompanying Lillian around the streets of New York.

It’s an easy read and nothing too taxing, the exact kind of story I was looking for while I nursed a sore mouth having undergone some rather invasive oral surgery recently. Kathleen Rooney’s Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk is a rather sweet novel about an 84-year-old lady, once America’s highest paid female advertising copywriter, taking a walk around Manhattan on New Year’s Eve in 1984.Īs she takes her evening stroll en-route to a party she’s been invited to, she meets and interacts with ordinary New Yorkers and recalls the highs and lows of her extraordinary life and career. Fiction – Kindle edition Daunt Books 302 pages 2017.

Lillian fishback takes a walk