84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

84, Charing Cross Road

Helene Hanff

Published 1970

Epistolary Memoir

Book Club

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 In one word: CHARMING! 

It is only a shame that this was not longer, which is odd to say because it covered twenty years of correspondence. 

84, Charing Cross Road is a short, but sweet, epistolary work that captures the evolution of a long distance friendship between a freelance writer living in New York City and a used bookstore owner in London. The author, Helene Hanff, was desperately searching for antiquated or out-of-print books of the British persuasion and was frustrated by the lack of options available to her in NYC. She discovered an ad for a used book seller in London - Marks & Co. - and decided to write an inquiry. She included a list of her "most pressing problems." That very first letter was dated October 5, 1949. 

The main person Ms. Hanff directed her letters was Frank Doel, as he initially answered her requests. Because of Ms. Hanff's personable, easy-going, and sarcastic disposition, the letters quickly became good-natured and friendly, so much so that she addressed him as "Frankie." And Mr. Doel did all he could to find excellent second-hand copies of the books she requested. 

Soon after learning that England experienced rationing of food and supplies during and after WWII, Ms. Hanff purchased food packages and items from Denmark and had them delivered to Marks & Co. for the employees and their families. This touched so many lives beyond the bookstore that soon she began receiving letters from them, including Mr. Doel's wife, Nora. And so began Ms. Hanff's many long distance friendships.

I expected Ms. Hanff to make a trip to London, to meet her fans. Many of her correspondents encouraged and begged her to do so; however, within the timeframe of the letters, it was not to happen. That's all I am going to say, or I shall include spoilers.

A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT ANTIQUARIANISM  

I will add this: until this story, I had never heard the word antiquarian or antiquated. I assumed it was in the antique family and figured out what it meant. Then, this past weekend, I happened upon the Antiquarian Book Fair in Tampa. I gleefully dragged my entire family into St. Petersburg and brought a huge bag with me to do my shopping. 

Well...how silly was I? The first book of interest -- The Boyhood of John Muir -- I put it under my arm and continued browsing the booth. After several minutes I walked up to the cashier to ask how much, but she and a gentleman were speaking to an official looking gentleman, and they were spelling for him an author's name: M. U. I. R. 

Me, thinking I was clever, held up the book to show them they spelled that name correctly. And just then both the woman and gentleman let out such a sign of relief, I thought they would hug me. Apparently, they were reporting the book missing from their collection, and here I was perusing with it in the crook of my arm. 

After apologizing a dozen times, I asked the price of the book and almost choked. And it went downhill from there. Needless to say, I never did fill my book bag. I couldn't justify buying books for $100s and $1000s. Yes, they were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful antique books. But they were books for collecting, not reading. 

So, Helene was reading antique books before they were just collectors items. 

Before I realized how much being an antiquarian would cost me. (That's my big empty bookbag.)

THE BOOKLOVER

My favorite moments are when Ms. Hanff speaks genuinely off the top of her bookish head; 

For example, Helene tells Frank that she gets to keep her books until the day she dies -- 

and die happy in the knowledge that I'm leaving it behind for someone else to love. I shall sprinkle pale pencil marks through it pointing out the best passages to some booklover yet unborn. 

And her justification for throwing out (or donating) bad books is this:

I personally can't think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even mediocre book.  

Helene had this to say about fiction:

I never can get interested in things that didn't happen to people who never lived. 

I'm a great lover of I-was-there-books. 

Then she read Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and wouldn't return it to the library until Mr. Doel sent her her own copy. 

And Helene's opinion about writing in books: 

I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comrade-ly sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages some one long gone has called my attention too.  💛

Helene Hanff (GoodReads)

SHOULD YOU READ THIS?

Yes, you should. 

Especially if you like short and sweet true epistolary memoirs, with a bit of 20th century American/English history and culture, humor, friendship, books, reading, and inspiration. 

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P.S. There is a film version starring Anne Bancroft as Hanff, Anthony Hopkins as Frankie, and Judi Dench as Nora. It follows the book very nicely.