84 Charing Cross Road
Helene Hanff
95 pages
published in 1971

This is a delightful little book, a record of twenty years of correspondence between the author, Helene Hanff and a London second hand bookstore, Marks & Co, which was located at 84 Charing Cross Road. The letters between them span some twenty years, starting in 1949 with the last being sent in 1969. Most of them however date from the early to mid fifties, correspondence slacking off after that period due to various causes.

It's great fun and pleasure to read these letters, which started out oh so prosaically as a request for information regarding certain books, but with Helene's third letter already showing some emotion when she was sent a bible she did not like at all. It takes her at first anonymous correspondent longer to unwind, but after she sent a christmas package he finally does.He even goes as far as revealing his name: Frank Doel.

At the time when Helene Hanff started corresponding with Marks & Co rationing induced by World War II was still in force and various quite ordinairy items were nigh impossible to get. So it's no wonder that her kindness in sending food packets every now and again endeared the bookstore's staff to her. Letters become increasinly familiar on both sides, each treating the other as an old friend. Soon it's not just Frank writing to her, but his wife Nora as well... Correspondence between them is regular, but tapers off once the sixties have started and Helene is occupied with other things, as well as suffering from a shortage of money to spend on books. It ends sadly when she is informed that Frank Doel passed away on 30 september 1968...

I always like books about bibliophilic pursuits, be they collections of reviews and essays, or more personal reminiscences. This is the lesser reason I like this book. The greater is its warm humanity, the way it shows transatlantic friendships can blossom through writing. Recommended to anybody with even the slightest interest in books and people.

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
Helene Hanff
121 pages
published in 1974

Where 84 Charing Cross Road was in letter form, the results of twenty years of transatlantic correspondence between a booklover and her favourite bookshop, this is in diary format describing the booklover's first trip to her favourite country, England. After the publication of the earlier book, which became a cult success on both sides of the Atlantic it finally became possible for Helene to actually visit the country she loved so much and meet her English friends and fans. During the trip she kept a diary, with the result being this book.

Helene Hanff has the knack of being able to write about herself and her reactions without sounding vain or conceited. Her reactions to everything come over as natural, a bit humble even. It's somewhat different then 84 Charing Cross Road, more focused on herself, yet at times still oddly touching. Again, recommended for booklovers.

Q's Legacy
Helene Hanff
138 pages
published in 1985

Unlike the previous two books of Hanff I read, one which was a collection of letters, the other was written in diary form, this is straight forward autobiography. As such it covers some of the same ground 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street though this doesn't mean this book is superflous.

If you read and enjoyed the previous two books, then you will enjoy this as well. The title, Q's Legacy refers to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, whose On the Art of Writing set her up on the path which ultimately led to these books. It tells of her youth, lightly touches the period which the first two books had already written about, her correspondence with Marks and Co and her first trip to England and then moves beyond that to what happened afterwards.

Just like The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, this book would never have been written if not for 84 Charing Cross Road and its revelance echoes on most pages. Though 84 Charing Cross Road was only a cult succes, it still led to a tv series and it was also adapted to the stage, both in London and New York. While in London the play was a succes, it wasn't in New York. According to Hanff, what made the play a succes in England was the nostalgia it loosened for the postwar years, with its rationing and such. In New York there wasn't this nostalgia and the subject matter was eclectic enough to let it flop. She writes about this without rancune and with a lot of humour.

Her sense of humour is also what kept this and her previous book from being bragging. She writes about how her books are being adapted to play or tv yes, but she does that in such a self depreciating and funny manner it doesn't become egocentric. Her genuine joy about it all shines true, which is why this is such a nice little book.