Title: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Genre: Non-fiction, Correspondence
Rating: 5/5
84 Charing Cross Road follows the twenty-year correspondence between New York playwright Helene Hanff and London bookbuyer Frank Doel, which began when Hanff contacted Marks & Co. booksellers in order to locate British literature she was unable to locate in New York. Over time, a long-distance friendship evolved between the two and between Hanff and the other employees at Marks & Co.
I absolutely adored 84 Charing Cross Road. Reading the preface and introduction, I couldn't believe how attached people were to what amounts to someone else's correspondence. But Hanff's enthusiasm and no-holds-barred attitude had me captivated within pages. You can read her emotions in her letters; the lack of capitals when she's rushing to type out her thoughts and the overuse of capitals to show her annoyance and outrage. In contrast, Frank Doel's letters were very professional for a long time. He doesn't address her by her first name for almost two years, and it takes her commenting that "I'm helene only to my FRIENDS" before he addresses her as "Dear Helene." The letters between the two and between Helene and others reveal so much about them, their hopes and dreams and problems. I think my only complaint for the book is that it seems that some of the later letters are missing. 84 Charing Cross Road is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's utterly moving and entirely amusing, and I'd recommend it as a must-read for any book lover.
