This is a real life story in the form of a book of letters. It has a quiet charm and illustrates the world and particularly London in the 1930s and then wartime.
Helene Hanff was a writer with a particular interest in classical literature, who lived and worked in her small New York apartment. Finding it difficult to get the volumes she wanted at a price she could afford, she wrote to ‘Messrs Marks and Co. Sellers of rare and secondhand books’ at 84 Charing Cross Road in London and from this initial enquiry came a friendship and a relationship conducted entirely through letters.
Frank Doel was the person who dealt with the ever more frequent questions and then orders for books that came from over the Atlantic. The letters became friendlier and more personal as they learnt about each other’s lives and Helene, from a distance, became familiar with Frank’s wife and children as well as the problems of living in London in wartime.
Helene sent food parcels which were shared not only with family but with the staff of the shop. Christmas was more enjoyable with the arrival of tins of ham and rich fruit cake.
The strange bookish relationship enriched everyone involved but sadly Frank and Helene never met. After the war and when funds allowed, Helene came to London and inevitably wanted to visit 84 Charing Cross Road. By that time Frank had died and the trip was bittersweet.
The letter writing in this book is rich and full of shared interest. It is innocent and there is never any idea that Frank and Helene are anything more than friends and yet every time I read it I feel a slight frisson of what might have been if they had met in a different place at a different time. Their stars are crossed.
Charing Cross Road is known for the amount of bookshops it has, the largest of which must be Foyles. On more than one occasion I have looked for number 84 but it is no more. It was obviously absorbed into a larger business. However, the magic is in the pages of the book. Such a delight.
(There is also a film with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. It is worth looking out for.)