Pages and Pastries Book Discussion: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

Pages & Pastries is back in person and new members are ALWAYS welcome! Check out an ebook or audiobook in Libby/Overdrive and/or Hoopla, or stop by the Adult Services Desk on the second floor to pick up a copy (quantities are limited).

Questions? Email Katie at  kallan@orlandparklibrary.org or call 708-428-5150 for more information.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

Inspired by Margaret Fishback, poet and Macy’s ad-writing phenom of the 1930s, Rooney imagines an extraordinary walk through the streets of New York City on the last night of 1984, one that triggers a flood of memories for fictional ad woman Lillian Boxfish. The octogenarian muses on the changing urban landscape as she stops at favorite haunts: an intimate neighborhood bar that’s just installed a TV, a restaurant where she’s dined every New Year’s Eve that’s about to change owners, the famed Delmonico’s, where she ended her marriage. Further stops include a changing lower Manhattan landscape where she meets a haunted Vietnam veteran and engages him in a “best last-line contest,” a detour to a hospital emergency room with a frightened woman about to have her first baby, and a party where she’s both scorned and adored by a new generation of artists, followed by a hilarious encounter with three muggers. Meanwhile, Lillian carefully recounts her celebrated career in advertising, her adored husband and son, and her emotional breakdown. Elegantly written, Rooney creates a glorious paean to a distant literary life and time—and an unabashed celebration of human connections that bridge the past and future. (Publishers Weekly)