Of Books & Letters

I love the library. I go every few weeks and check out a large stack of books. Some are from my “want to read” list and some are just random selections that happen to catch my eye. Just recently I happened to find a book that has long been on my list. 84 Charing Cross Road  by Helene Hanff. It’s an epistolary book!! That’s a book that uses letters or diaries to tell the story. (My nerd heart was bursting!) ❤️🥰📚📬

Released in 1984 in celebration of Library Week

Published in 1970 it is a collection of letters from American Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in New York, to Frank Doel, the manager of a used bookshop located at 84 Charing Cross Road, London.  Their correspondence spans 20 years (1949-1968), and although they never met, they developed a charming and winsome friendship through their shared love of books. Helene was brilliant, funny, kind, generous and amazing and I wish I could have been her pen pal!! I know we would have been kindred spirits. 🥰📚📬 

The book was made into a stage play and later a movie starring Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins and Judy Dench in 1987. After I finished the book I watched the film (Thank you, Amazon!) and found it delightful, the script closely follows the real letters.

 If you are a book and letter nerd...and let’s face it, you probably are if you are reading this blog😉...I encourage you to add this book and film to your own list! ❤️ 

Now I’m off to write a letter to a pen pal that lives across the pond! 🇬🇧 Go postal, people! It truly is a beautiful experience.

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy