It was not the kind of letter they were accustomed to receiving, but it was one that would make history. And, as letters, books and quips crossed the ocean, a friendship flourished that would endure for twenty years.In the drab and traumatized post-war London of 1949, Marks & Co., second-hand and antiquarian booksellers at 84, Charing Cross Road, received an enquiry from a Miss Helene Hanff of New York City. But, seeking further treasures, Helene soon found herself in regular correspondence with bookseller Frank Doel, laying siege to his English reserve with her warmth and wit. Her books were dispatched with polite but brisk efficiency. Booksellers of 84 Charing Cross Road in search of the rare editions she was unable to find in New York. In 1949 Helene Hanff, a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books, wrote to Marks & Co.
Now that I’ve finally gotten to it, the lump in my throat and the smile on my face have moved it straight to the top of my All Time Favorites.Ĩ4 stars for this loveliest of lovely reads. It’s just chock full of wonderful, bookish people being wonderful to other bookish people.Ĩ4, Charing Cross Road has languished on my To Read shelf since I joined Goodreads back in 2014.
If you wanted to find a rare book or first edition of a favorite, you had to hunt for it! Oh, the joy of finally locating a coveted treasure by reaching out by letter to a store across the world rather than just through the click of a mouse. It was published in 1970 and contains twenty years of correspondence that began in 1949 - a time when London was still dealing with post-war rationing and, to state the obvious, the internet did not exist. I often jump straight to the down and dirty of a book, but please allow me to shake things up by presenting the lithe and lovely.Ĩ4, Charing Cross Road is an absolutely delightful epistolary memoir made up of letters exchanged between NYC-based author Helene Hanff and an antiquarian bookseller in London.
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