84, Charing Cross Road - Hardcover

Hanff, Helene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559211407 ISBN 13: 9781559211406

Publisher: Moyer Bell and its subsidiaries, 2007

Synopsis

It all began with a letter inquiring about secondhand books, written by Helene Hanff in New York, and posted to a bookshop at 84, Charing Cross Road in London. As Helene's sarcastic and witty letters are responded to by the staid and proper Frank Doel of Marks & Company, a relationship blossoms into a warm, charming, feisty love affair.

About this title

Review:

84, Charing Cross Road is a charming record of bibliophilia, cultural difference, and imaginative sympathy. For 20 years, an outspoken New York writer and a rather more restrained London bookseller carried on an increasingly touching correspondence. In her first letter to Marks & Co., Helene Hanff encloses a wish list, but warns, "The phrase 'antiquarian booksellers' scares me somewhat, as I equate 'antique' with expensive." Twenty days later, on October 25, 1949, a correspondent identified only as FPD let Hanff know that works by Hazlitt and Robert Louis Stevenson would be coming under separate cover. When they arrive, Hanff is ecstatic--but unsure she'll ever conquer "bilingual arithmetic." By early December 1949, Hanff is suddenly worried that the six-pound ham she's sent off to augment British rations will arrive in a kosher office. But only when FPD turns out to have an actual name, Frank Doel, does the real fun begin.

Two years later, Hanff is outraged that Marks & Co. has dared to send an abridged Pepys diary. "i enclose two limp singles, i will make do with this thing till you find me a real Pepys. THEN i will rip up this ersatz book, page by page, AND WRAP THINGS IN IT." Nonetheless, her postscript asks whether they want fresh or powdered eggs for Christmas. Soon they're sharing news of Frank's family and Hanff's career. No doubt their letters would have continued, but in 1969, the firm's secretary informed her that Frank Doel had died. In the collection's penultimate entry, Helene Hanff urges a tourist friend, "If you happen to pass by 84, Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me. I owe it so much."

About the Author:

Helene Hanff is the author of APPLE OF MY EYE, THE DUCHESS OF BLOOMSBURY STREET, LETTER FROM NEW YORK, Q'S LEGACY and UNDERFOOT IN SHOW BUSINESS. She wrote a number of books for young readers the best known being MOVERS AND SHAKERS and TERRIBLE THOMAS. Born in Philadelphia, Helene lived most of her life in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Moyer Bell and its subsidiaries
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1559211407
• ISBN 13: 9781559211406
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104