A review by judyward
The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lily Koppel

4.0

I loved this book. The author left her prewar apartment in New York one day to find that the management had cleaned out the storage area and thrown dozens of trunks into a dumpster hired for the purpose. She dove in--and who could blame her--as did dozens of New Yorkers-- and began to search through the treasures that were revealed. Besides some outfits from the 1920s and 1930s, she found a red leather diary. It belonged to Florence Wolfson who kept the diary every day from 1929 to 1934. The diary revealed the extraordinary life of a young woman coming to adulthood in the upper middle class during the Great Depression in New York. Surprisingly enough, the author was able to find Florence Wolfson, aged 90, and get to know her as well as to return her diary to her. A fascinating book. I read it all in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.