In the clever, absorbing novel, GOTHAM DIARIES, Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony guide us through a world of luxury, class, style, and extravagance—all with an incredible view of Manhattan. From the bedroom to the boardroom, the art world to the philanthropic jet set, this moving story explores seduction, scandal, excess, betrayal, desire, dreams, and deception through one-of-a-kind characters.
Lauren is trying to be an independent woman, starting her own documentary film company, but it’s difficult when you’re married to Ed Thomas, one of the wealthiest African-American businessmen in the country—and particularly when he seems to have a roving eye. Manny is an up-and-coming gay real estate agent who arrived in Manhattan from Alabama with only the clothes on his back. He’s made his way to the top of his profession—yet he still wants more. Tandy is one of the “ladies who lunch”—but since her husband’s death and shocking revelations about his financial problems, she’s desperate to reinvent herself and find a new source of cash flow.
As we follow these three and other characters in this compelling first novel, we see the fascinating world of New York City’s upper-crust African American society with all their scandals, foibles and skeletons in the closet revealed. We root for Lauren as she discovers her marriage isn’t the perfect haven she had thought; we watch Manny try to charm his way into riches he doesn’t have in order to keep his gorgeous live-in boyfriend happy; and we become involved in a very private world that few are allowed to see.
“This titillating debut novel is irresistible; a richly absorbing tale of Manhattan’s upper crust packed with sex, lies and backstabbing, and a heroine you’re truly rooting for. GOTHAM DIARIES is written with heart and intensity, and describers a luxurious world few ever have the opportunity to glimpse.”
Tonya Lewis Lee, former corporate attorney turned writer and children’s television producer, is also co-author of the successful children’s book Please Baby Please. Since 1998 she has produced various programming for Nickelodeon and Noggin. She lives in New York with her husband, Spike Lee, and their two children.
