920 O'Farrell Street: A Jewish Girlhood in Old San Francisco

Harriet Lane Levy; Introduction by Charlene Akers

Originally published in 1937 in the later years of her extraordinary life, Harriet Lane Levy's memoirs of her childhood in San Francisco during the late 1800s give us a rare view into the traditional life and manners of an upper-middle-class Jewish family of the era.

With sly wit and a writing style critics compared to Jane Austen's, Levy vividly portrays an often stifling world of parlors and sitting rooms, maids and cooks, family intrigue and neighborhood pretensions, eased by the warmth of family affections and Levy's own independent spirit.

Reviews

"Charming and thoughtful"—San Francisco Chronicle
"A wonderfully original view of the city's and her neighborhood's social layers and rules...Levy has a keen and compassionate eye for personalities and an appreciation of the details of ordinary experience."—The Ark
"A wealth of sensuous detail...combines with sharp social commentary to form a vivid background for flashes of wry self-knowledge."—Jewish Book World

About the Editor

Charlene Akers is the author of several California guidebooks, including Open to the Public. She lives in Redwood City with her husband and son.