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A review by theresidentbookworm
The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lily Koppel
5.0
In case you guys haven't noticed, I am a 1920s junkie. It is a serious problem, I'll admit it, but I just can't help it. I love it all: the glamor, the intrigue, the literature, the clothes, the music... In my next life, I will live in 1920s Paris or New York. I will exchange witty barbs with Dorothy Parker and get Getrude Stein's advice on my writing. Until then, I guess I'll just have to settle with reading fabulously detailed accounts like The Red Leather Diary.
When I first read the back cover of The Red Leather Diary, I knew I had found a gem. It really read more like novel for most of it. What a spectacular story! Just the story of how Lily Koppel found the journal could be fiction it's so unbelievable (in a good way). I loved how Koppel had little snippets from Florence's diary and then expanded on them or tied them in somehow. Honestly, I wanted to be Florence. To walk in old New York, to see all those plays and read like she did and go to Europe and explore. Florence Wolfson came right off the page. It was easy to like her. She was brilliant, restless, and full of spirit. I could relate to her. I admired her. I loved how specific her depiction of New York is. I felt like I was in 1920s New York.
Florence Wolfson certainly had an interesting life. I have mixed feelings about the lesbianism, but at least it wasn't brushed under the rug here. I had never actually heard of lesbians existing in the 1920s so it was interesting for me. I loved hearing about all of Florence's romances. Nat was my favorite, maybe because I knew she'd end up marrying him and maybe because he just sounded cute.
Lily Koppel got the break of a lifetime by finding the diary, and she took advantage of it. She's a great writer with an eye for detail, but it helps that she had such amazing source material. Probably the most fascinating and realistic portrayal of the 1920s I have ever read, I definitely recommend.
When I first read the back cover of The Red Leather Diary, I knew I had found a gem. It really read more like novel for most of it. What a spectacular story! Just the story of how Lily Koppel found the journal could be fiction it's so unbelievable (in a good way). I loved how Koppel had little snippets from Florence's diary and then expanded on them or tied them in somehow. Honestly, I wanted to be Florence. To walk in old New York, to see all those plays and read like she did and go to Europe and explore. Florence Wolfson came right off the page. It was easy to like her. She was brilliant, restless, and full of spirit. I could relate to her. I admired her. I loved how specific her depiction of New York is. I felt like I was in 1920s New York.
Florence Wolfson certainly had an interesting life. I have mixed feelings about the lesbianism, but at least it wasn't brushed under the rug here. I had never actually heard of lesbians existing in the 1920s so it was interesting for me. I loved hearing about all of Florence's romances. Nat was my favorite, maybe because I knew she'd end up marrying him and maybe because he just sounded cute.
Lily Koppel got the break of a lifetime by finding the diary, and she took advantage of it. She's a great writer with an eye for detail, but it helps that she had such amazing source material. Probably the most fascinating and realistic portrayal of the 1920s I have ever read, I definitely recommend.