More than 90 years after Mazie Phillips - the proprietress of famed New York City movie theatre, the Venice - began her diary, it is discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story.

So who was Mazie Phillips? Diary extracts, interwoven with voices from past and present, paint a picture of her adventurous life - played out during the Jazz Age, when romance and booze were aplenty.

Episode 9 (of 10)
After the Wall Street crash depression hits New York City, Mazie has her work cut out as the Venice serves a different need.

Written by Jami Attenberg - author of a story collection, Instant Love, and three novels, The Kept Man, The Melting Season, and The Middlesteins, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. She has also contributed essays and criticism to The New York Times, Real Simple, Elle, The Washington Post, and many other publications. Jami lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Readers:
Mazie Phillips.......Samantha Spiro
Other parts..........Kerry Shale and Teresa Gallagher
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4. Show less