New York, NY: Harper Perennial (pub: 2009)

Paperback.

“A world straight from the pages of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. . . . The Red Leather Diary is Koppel’s tribute to both the tempestuous girl she came to know on paper and the older, more even-tempered women she grew to love in real life. It’s an extraordinary story about coming of age, following your dreams and discovering (or rediscovering) who you are, were and want to be.” -Parade

Rescued from a dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman.

Opening the tarnished brass lock of a red leather diary found in the basement of a New York City apartment building, New York Times writer Lily Koppel embarks on a journey into the past. Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel sets out to find the diary’s owner, a 90-year old woman named Florence. Eventually reunited with her diary, Florence ventures back to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor.

Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, The Red Leather Diary is an evocative and entrancing work that recreates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.

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