Summer at Tiffany | Book Review

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
Original Publication Date: 2007
Genres: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Source: I purchased this book
Goodreads

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart is the true story of two best friends experiencing the time of their lives in New York City during the summer of 1945. The Cleveland Plain Dealer raves, “Hart writes about that stylish summer with verve, recollecting with a touching purity a magical summer in Manhattan, seen through the eyes of two 21-year-olds, just as the end of World War II approached.”

Summer At Tiffany

Do you remember the best summer of your life?

Summer at Tiffany is Marjorie Hart‘s charming tale of working at Tiffany’s during the summer of 1945. Marjorie and her best friend Marty, naive sorority girls from the University of Iowa, are determined to spend the summer working in New York.

They somehow land jobs at Tiffany’s, the exclusive jewelry store, even though there had never been any women working on the floor.

Marjorie’s first impression of Tiffany’s is one of awe:

Inside, it was cathedral-like: spacious, serene, and cool. It made me gasp. On the paneled main floor, marble-framed mirrors reflected the light from the windows on the opposite wall. Diamonds shimmered from the counters as if they were alive, while solemn, dignified men watched them like sentinels.

Marjorie and Marty work as pages and spend an unforgettable summer.  Celebrities enter the store, the girls find romance, and try to survive on incredibly little money.

The summer of 1945 was a memorable one in New York.  A small airplane crashed into the Empire State Building, and World War II ended, sparking off wild celebrations in the streets. New York City was also an innocent world of dances, Schrafft’s, and eating at the Automat.

This book is a lovely remembrance of a time long past but worth remembering.

There was an NPR interview with author Marjorie Hart about this book:

Recalling a Summer at Tiffany

Please read my review of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson.