It's the early 90s, and Lee Israel is a down on her luck writer.

She's doing some research for a biography that she's writing.

At Lincoln Center, there's a library where you can read old documents.

So these aren't things that are in books.

These are original documents.

Lee's researching a woman named Fanny Bryce, a popular American comedian, singer and actress

who skyrocketed the fame in the 20s.

So Lee's in the library at the Lincoln Center, reading and making notes when she notices

something.

While going through some of the papers, she discovered a couple of them that weren't

cataloged correctly.

She finds original letters written by Fanny Bryce.

Lee pours over the letters, and for a literary lover like her, this is an exciting discovery.

And the library hadn't even logged them properly.

That's when Lee has a thought, oh my God, I could sell these.

This is an appealing thought for her because of her situation.

You see, Lee is on welfare.

She's behind on a rent, and her cat is sick.

She's in desperate need of money, and these letters have literally been handed to her.

No one would even notice the letters they're missing.

She picks them up, folds them, and glances around to make sure no one's watching.

She reaches down slowly and slides them into her shoes.

...