Also I found her story verbose and over long. She seemed too advantaged and too self indulgent – but after sticking with her story right up until the end, I realized that, like most people, Lillian had hidden depths that are not at first apparent. I did like Lillian Boxfish’s character, but I didn’t empathize with her as much as I thought I would. I expected to like this novel more than I did. By the end of the book I found I had acquired a deep respect for Lillian.ĭelmonico’s restaurant – Lillian’s destination for her ‘walk’ It was then that we learned of Lillian’s bout of depression, her alcoholism, and her subsequent divorce from the love of her life. Because it was related the way it was, I didn’t really care about the characters, though the book did warm up at around the 62% mark. In a novel I expect to get to know the characters and through that knowing form a temporary bond with them. Now long retired, one realizes that she no longer has any comfort – other than her walking through a city that she loves with palpable affection. My problem with “ Lillian Boxfish goes for a walk” was that for me it read like a history book – not a novel. The only warmth I could discern was when she thought about her husband Max and her son, Johnny.
But – it wasn’t a warm novel, rather a relating of events and people. This novel employs some well rendered imagery and was well researched. “Winter, at bay for weeks, has taken sundown as its cue” We didn’t learn ‘ how‘ Lillian felt – and ‘ why‘ she championed the causes she did. But all of these admirable traits were related with no real empathy. She was a feminist and a career woman who lived in a time when women just wanted to stop working and get married and raise a family. I admired Lillian, who wouldn’t? She was vivacious, witty and very intelligent. We learned their names but nothing about their personalities. We learned that Lillian just about always had a cat. Other than the fact that Lillian and her husband Max were truly in love, we didn’t ‘ know‘ anything about him. Other than her name and what she did for a living, Helen was an enigma. But… we didn’t get to ‘know’ any of them. Friends, coworkers, lovers – people she adored and people she barely tolerated. We learned that she had many people in her life. My problem with that was that the story read almost like a report. Now an octogenarian, Lillian laments her lost youth, and reflects upon the loneliness incumbent on the aged – when many friends, acquaintances, and contemporaries are no longer living. “The Strand” – one of Lillian’s favorite book stores
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