Book Review: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

Appropriately enough, this is an ambling tale. Lillian takes a walk in New York City on New Year's Eve of 1984. We, as readers, come alongside her and listen in on her ruminations as she recalls her life over the years. It was also appropriate that I read this book between New Year's Eve and January 3rd. I'm a fan of walking and of authors who seek inspiration through walking (Dickens, among others). At one time, I walked city streets myself. I lived in Chicago during my teen years. During one college summer break, I lived in New Jersey and walked the streets of New York City. Indeed, one Saturday morning, unwilling to pay the subway fare, I walked across Harlem to get to the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage. Thus, I appreciated this tale of an elderly woman's walk on the edge of a new year. It was full of interesting tid-bits of historical facts.

Lillian Boxfish is an 85-year-old woman who will not let others spook her out of her favorite activity, walking the streets of New York City. Despite recent criminal accounts, Lillian is feisty and unafraid. The story develops in a stream-of-consciousness manner as Lillian walks or ambles through the city with several destinations in mind. She is heading for a small party but makes many stops along the way (walking 10.4 miles in total). For the reader, it feels as if you are walking with her and reliving her past through her witty banter and sharp eyes. She has spunk, verve, and stories galore. By the final pages, I felt quite sad for her, but pleased she triumphs in the end.

I rarely encounter unfamiliar words. Although I have seen some of these words before, my exposure didn't explain the words. So, I looked them up to learn how to use the words myself. Here were the nine I learned: inchoate, pulchritudinous, oleaginous, poniard, idee fixe, aldehydic, mulligan, Stendahl syndrome, and anhedonia. Of course, when I mentioned them to my husband, he rattled off the dictionary definitions.

I adored the author's note at the end of the book. Kathleen Rooney explained her research into the life of Margaret Fishback, the inspiration for Lillian's character. Fishback was a poet and advertising copywriter with great acclaim. Since I once worked in an archive, I was thrilled to read the author's notes about acquiring Fishback's papers and handling the facts of Fishback's life and works. Rooney clarifies that this is a work of historical fiction and not biography. Basically, she merged her own love of city-walking with Fishback's story and enhanced her character with an entertainingly acidic voice. Lillian is a character you will never forget. I loved Harold Fry's walking tale. It made me want to follow his steps through England. I could see myself trekking through New York following Lillian Boxfish's trail. Who knows, maybe they've already created just such a walking tour!