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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
A fascinating character study based on real-life highest-paid female advertising copywriter in the 1930s, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk is a whimsical ode to New York City, the art of taking walks, and independent women who find love and loss. The shape of the novel itself is creative in that all present action takes place during a single walk taken by an 80-something-year-old woman on New Year’s Eve in 1985. While a lot of the tension is found in the flashbacks, author Kathleen Rooney includes enough forward momentum and interaction in the walk itself to make this an intriguing read. While I wasn’t as drawn to the character at times as I might have wished, this book is still an interesting read, particularly when you get to the historical note at the end of the book.
I liked the structure of the book, with the walk serving as a way to tell the story. It certainly captured times and places, which was great to read. I didn't like Lillian very much, but I came to respect her as a person. A well-drawn character, for sure.
#30 of 2023: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
⭐⭐
Lillian, our 85 year old protagonist, literally takes a walk in this book! As she walks through her beloved Manhattan on New Years Eve, she reflects on her life: career, love, friendships, marriage, motherhood, and the ever changing landscapes of New York City.
⭐⭐
Lillian, our 85 year old protagonist, literally takes a walk in this book! As she walks through her beloved Manhattan on New Years Eve, she reflects on her life: career, love, friendships, marriage, motherhood, and the ever changing landscapes of New York City.
At first this was a 3-star review for me, but the more I thought about this book the more I found wrong with it. It started out so wonderfully; at first glance, Lillian is very likable and I was so engaged by the premise of a retrospective on her time as a working woman in New York City in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. I liked reading about the history of advertising, the clash between professional passion and motherhood, and seeing NYC change over time through Lillian's eyes.
However, the book never really takes off. It stays flat in terms of tone and pace, and halfway through I stopped wanting to hear more of Lillian's story and didn't really care if she finished her walk. Her shmaltzy run-ins with all walks of life around NYC felt like Rooney was waving a neon sign in my face reading #NotAllOldPeople / #NotAllWhiteWomen. And even when Lillian gets to show us how enlightened she is about race and women's rights, her attitude towards money is so privileged and her off-hand remarks about how other people suffered during the Depression and WW2 were deeply gross to me.
I skimmed after page 200 and I don't feel like I missed much.
However, the book never really takes off. It stays flat in terms of tone and pace, and halfway through I stopped wanting to hear more of Lillian's story and didn't really care if she finished her walk. Her shmaltzy run-ins with all walks of life around NYC felt like Rooney was waving a neon sign in my face reading #NotAllOldPeople / #NotAllWhiteWomen. And even when Lillian gets to show us how enlightened she is about race and women's rights, her attitude towards money is so privileged and her off-hand remarks about how other people suffered during the Depression and WW2 were deeply gross to me.
I skimmed after page 200 and I don't feel like I missed much.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Slow start but redeemed itself in the last half of the book
[b:Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk|29939353|Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk|Kathleen Rooney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464820875l/29939353._SX50_.jpg|50329942]
The character, Lillian, is based on a true character that did write ads for Macy's and was the highest paid woman at that time. That didn't mean she was properly compensated as a man would have been as most of us women have had to deal with since.
Well told story of a fascinating woman and a love tribute to the City of New York.
The character, Lillian, is based on a true character that did write ads for Macy's and was the highest paid woman at that time. That didn't mean she was properly compensated as a man would have been as most of us women have had to deal with since.
Well told story of a fascinating woman and a love tribute to the City of New York.
I chose this novel for one of my Book of The Month Club subscription choices, and it wasn’t bad. It won’t be a favorite but it wasn’t awful. It’s about an 84 (85) (she constantly lies about her age) year old woman who is alone on New Year’s Eve. She has long been divorced and her only son is grown with his own family. She usually does the same thing every year, goes to the same restaurant, and never veers off course. This year she decides to go on a walk, because walking is her thing. She revisits a variety of different places that all hold meaning to her in their own way and tells a story of why it impacted her life. That’s it.
Boxfish was a cute read, but it will not go down in literary history, it will forever stay a cute read. This book wasn’t one you got lost in easily, I often found myself thinking of what I need to do that day, what I want for dinner, what I need to get at the grocery store, etc. I can usually sit down for hours and power through a book because I’m so lost in it; but this one I would read for a little bit then get up and do something then sit back down and read again. It was so hard to keep my attention solely focused on this storyline. Rooney tried to make her time period change obvious, as she would do one chapter of Lillian visiting said important place, and the next would be her telling the story of why it’s important. But even doing that it was still confusing. I kept thinking this took place in modern-day New York City but it was supposed to be happening in 1984. There weren’t real-time markers that made you lean one way or the other, but it could have been done a little better to definitely set her time period and avoid the confusion.
I didn’t hate the book and had a hard time with whether I should give it a 3 or 4 star review. I finally chose three stars because it just wasn’t provoking enough, or too provoking depending on the definition. I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. Even as I got closer and closer to the end of the book I thought it would peak, but again I was let down. I can tell that Rooney tried to end on a note that she somewhat alluded to in past chapters, but even then she never expanded on it enough to make it her climax.
While Rooney is a skilled writer grammatically, she just needs a better storyline. Boxfish was a cute old lady and you liked her while reading, but her story just wasn’t fascinating enough to write an entire book about her.
View my other reviews at:
www.utterlynovel.com
Boxfish was a cute read, but it will not go down in literary history, it will forever stay a cute read. This book wasn’t one you got lost in easily, I often found myself thinking of what I need to do that day, what I want for dinner, what I need to get at the grocery store, etc. I can usually sit down for hours and power through a book because I’m so lost in it; but this one I would read for a little bit then get up and do something then sit back down and read again. It was so hard to keep my attention solely focused on this storyline. Rooney tried to make her time period change obvious, as she would do one chapter of Lillian visiting said important place, and the next would be her telling the story of why it’s important. But even doing that it was still confusing. I kept thinking this took place in modern-day New York City but it was supposed to be happening in 1984. There weren’t real-time markers that made you lean one way or the other, but it could have been done a little better to definitely set her time period and avoid the confusion.
I didn’t hate the book and had a hard time with whether I should give it a 3 or 4 star review. I finally chose three stars because it just wasn’t provoking enough, or too provoking depending on the definition. I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. Even as I got closer and closer to the end of the book I thought it would peak, but again I was let down. I can tell that Rooney tried to end on a note that she somewhat alluded to in past chapters, but even then she never expanded on it enough to make it her climax.
While Rooney is a skilled writer grammatically, she just needs a better storyline. Boxfish was a cute old lady and you liked her while reading, but her story just wasn’t fascinating enough to write an entire book about her.
View my other reviews at:
www.utterlynovel.com
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a great audiobook - the voice actor really brought Lillian to life. Lillian takes a long, eventful walk through NYC one evening and has flashbacks of her younger self along the way. It’s one evening the spans the course of a lifetime. An interesting character pondering all of life’s events that made her into the stalwart woman she is.