The best is yet to come

Harriet Diamond has had a life like no other. Born in Brooklyn in 1932, her early years were classic old-time New York. Harriet lived in a cloistered world, defined by her Jewishness. Then her family moved to sun-splashed Los Angeles and she fell in with the prettiest, WASPiest girls in school. The search for an authentic identity has been an enduring challenge for a chameleon who can light up any room with her spunk and style but who has spent most of her life trying to feel comfortable in her own skin.

Harriet's journey is quintessentially American: she was a dutiful 1950s housewife, a '70s swinger and high-rolling hedonist in the '80s. She has lived as a single mom just scraping by and a pampered socialite luxuriating on the sands of Malibu. The only constants have been her boundless optimism and a refusal to ever act her age.

Now 85--but still dressing like she's 25--Harriet looks back at her rollercoaster life in this bawdy, bittersweet memoir. Along the way she dispenses plenty of hard-earned wisdom about love, sex, marriage, money, aging and so much more. Readers will discover what has long been felt by her vast array of friends: to know Harriet is to be utterly charmed by her.