Ah, they just don’t make epistolary novels like they used to. So I had to go all the way back to 1970 for this one.
But then, of course, this isn’t a novel at all, but rather a collection of the actual correspondence between the author, a struggling writer in New York, and Frank Doel, chief buyer for an antiquarian bookshop in central London. Hanff and Doel corresponded for over twenty years, beginning their relationship by chance in 1949 when Helene spotted an ad for the company in a literary magazine and wrote requesting some books she couldn’t get her hands on at home. Doel replied, and so it began. Helene felt sorry for Frank and his colleagues dealing with the privations of post-war Britain, and sent regular food parcels; Frank hunted down ever-more-obscure literary delights to send westwards.
I’m actually a huge fan of the epistolary story (and, contrary to my opening statement, they do still appear from time to time – the excellent The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a recent example). Helene comes across as a far from conventional woman, a television writer at a time when there could not have been many women breaking into this industry. And her informal, at times melodramatic style draws you in immediately; in contrast, you can practically see Frank unstiffen and reveal his true warm nature over the course of the book. And the relationship (which remains a platonic friendship throughout) involves more than just these two – in time, the rest of the staff of Marks & Co., as well as Frank’s wife and daughter, come to know and love Helene.
My edition also contains The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, which chronicles Helene’s subsequent trip to London on the back of the success of the first book. It’s a treat. Enjoy.
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