Publisher's Synopsis
More than 30 years ago I found the Diaries of Harriet E. Wagner inside a false bottom of an old trunk lying forgotten in an enclosed garage in her house at Sea View Street in the Condado area, San Juan, Puerto Rico, just like many others diaries that have been found in dusty attics and between walls. Along with the diaries were also most treasured possessions, letters, photographs, personal notes and other remembrances of her life. It is usually considered reading a diary an invasion of privacy, especially without the permission of the author, but once the diarist is gone, such reading offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of someone we have never met. Harriet diaries reveal - not an old person looking back, in a memoir, but a young one looking at the present, and with an entire life ahead. Most of the diaries setting are in the tropical enchanted island of Puerto Rico, there the places she went, the people she met, the historical events that she witness, the scandals around her life that became published news, the falling in love with a married man, her great human experience of Love and Lust in the tropics, her international publishing career, her poetry, and her nights of bohemianism is all a True Story thru the pages of her diaries and we can join them in the immediacy of each these experiences.Harriet E. Wagner is long gone, and I think there is no more fitting tribute than to publish her diaries written in the flush of youth and on the edge of our history. This book is her diary as she wrote each volume describing her life and times on the island of Puerto Rico during the American government administration. In addition to keeping a diary, Harriet Wagner was also a prolific writer in her day. She published articles and poetry in well-known newspapers and magazines like The Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Travel and The American Woman Poets magazine to name a few. Writing poetry is all about inspiration and her combining of poetry and narrative will draw the reader into Miss Wagner's world with the notion that they are actually experiencing and feeling what she went through.The diaries provide insights into the life of the Americans in Puerto Rico in the late 20's and 30's as seen through her eyes. Harriet shares her experiences with the local people, from the street vendor to the Chief of Police, a very famous architect, a Naval Commander, from federal agents to famous poets. She projects her philosophical point of view of life and how she took all the advantage possible to live her life and enjoy all kinds of experiences and give love to those who needed it. Puerto Rico is a very magical place close to the Bermuda Triangle while it's shores are constantly bathe and cares by the Caribbean Ocean. Still today can make anyone feel the sensuousness of the tropics. The book expresses all without holding anything, including the fact that she knew one day someone would find her diaries and publishes them for the world to know about, including her great love for Bill and Puerto Rico, like she wanted to do. And with that I, Carlos A. Laster, selected by Harriet Wagner herself as I believe to be the one to discover her works, and commissioned to publish her literary work, present to you "LOVE AND LUST / THE SENSUOUSNESS OF THE TROPICS / The Diaries of Harriet E. Wagner.
