Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

'Enchanting.' — Financial Times

In my reckless and undiscouraged youth, I worked in a walnut-panelled office thirteen floors above West 35th Street.

Lillian Boxfish is no ordinary 85-year-old. On her arrival to New York in the 1930s she took the city by storm, working her way up from writing copy for Macy's department store to become the world's highest paid advertising woman. Now, alone on New Year's Eve, her usual holiday ritual in ruins, Lillian decides to take a walk. After all, it might be her last chance. Armed with only her mink coat and quick-witted charm, Lillian walks, and begins to reveal the story of her remarkable life.

On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, Lillian meets bartenders, shopkeepers, children, and criminals, while recalling a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak.

Based on a true story, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk paints a portrait of an extraordinary woman across the canvas of a changing America.

'Like taking a street-level tour through six decades of New York.' — New York Times

'A love letter to a stylish and atmospheric city... A sharp, wise, entertaining read.'— Daily Mail

'Easily the best gadding-around-town novel since Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker.' — Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events