Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

Lillian Boxfish is based on real-life Margaret Fishback, a highly successful advertising copywriter and poet, who started writing in the 1920s. The book is structured thus: an elderly Lillian walks all over Manhattan on New Year's Eve in 1984 and remembers her life. She is a feisty, talented woman who succeeded at a time when advertising was largely the province of men. And she has kept her independent streak and ability to think fast on her feet even into her 80s--as evidenced by her ability to outwit a group of muggers she encounters on her stroll.

I loved the many characters she meets on her walk. And I especially loved her best friend Helen, who also started as a young career woman transplanted to NYC. Her loyalty and support kept Lillian going during a particularly dark time in her life.

In addition to being a compelling character study, this book shows how much New York has changed over the course of Lillian's long life there.