Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

Lillian Boxfish is in her eighties.  Born in the beginning of the 20th century, she is ready to ring in the new year in 1985.  She is alone but she loves to walk and she loves the city.  Snug in her fur coat, she leaves her Murray Hill apartment for the short walk to her favorite NYC restaurant.  Offended to learn that the elderly owner is leaving the business, she picks up her coat and walks.  As she strolls through Midtown Manhattan and the East and West Villages, the reader is introduced to various characters that share "her city".  Each person and place she encounters reminds her of the various phases of her life - a marriage that ended - a son who now lives in Maine - but most of all the amazing career she had as a member of the advertising staff at Macy's.  It turns out that this story is based on a real person but it is as much a celebration of the city as it is a recognition of an independent, accomplished life.