84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff

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Book Reviews of 84, Charing Cross Road

Book Review: Writer To Writer "84 Charing Cross Road"
Summary: 5 Stars

I am a writer, and the first scene that I saw was the one of Ann Bancroft at the typewriter writing a letter to Mark & Co., Booksellers. This kept me on the hook for the rest of the movie.

Usually, in the past, I have turned off movies that have the English look to them, but not this time. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I could not find record of another presentation on television, so, I surfed the Internet for the book. I paid my money and I am now waiting for the arrival of the hard copy.

I thought that the story was so down to earth that it brought the past into view for me. I saw people who cared for people in sincere fashion. I saw people who formed a relationship of love: Long Distance. People who never saw each other, loved as though they met on some focused romantic adventure. A physical connection existed as though it were a match made in heaven.

I liked the part where a friend of Helene Hanff's went to London to explore the Marks & Co., Booksellers store to give Helene a mind picture she could relate to. She saw Frank's office and all the neat things about the antiquated shop.

On another occasion, Helene's friend stopped in and left some nylons on a desk in MARKS & CO. They were for Frank's family. This left the people in the bookstore in a quandary. They could not figure out how this happened. This gesture was just another one of those expressions of love that this book is about.

Frank observed another visit by Helene's friend; he watched her as if thinking that if may be Helene herself. The anticipation seen in his demeanor was worth the thousand words a picture is supposed to represent. I thought that he was going to go over and introduce himself, and give her an English hug.

The bookstore family of MARKS & CO., Booksellers was unable to secure some of the luxuries of life in the fifties. I loved it when Helene and her friends in New York sent these items through a parcel by post system. There was so much true love portrayed in this movie, which I expect the book will revisit for me when it arrives by post.

Helene had a dream to one day cross over to England and visit the people she had such a great relationship with. She never got there as long as the book sore was still alive. Frank, her key connection in the whole story also died as did some of the others. She never met Frank. It was as if fate kept them apart. If she had met him, the story might have taken on a sordid twist.

There seemed to be such a relationship of love that had developed through their correspondence by letter, that if they had met, it might have destroyed the good marriage relationship that Frank had with his wife. Frank's wife realized that there was something of a love affair, which had developed because of simple requests for books by letter. The love of books both Frank and Helene shared was so strong that it bonded them together for life.

I was nearly moved to tears when news of Franks death was brought to Helene. She was as broken up as one is when they lose the closet thing on earth. It was as if she lost a piece of herself, when Frank died.

Circumstance had kept Helene from visiting earlier in the twenty year relationship, but she finally put everything aside and went to see Marks & Co., Booksellers, on 84 Charing Cross Road, London England for herself. It was empty now, but she saw Frank's office, and she smiled. This was another picture worth a thousand words.

Well, there is much more. You will have to get the book, and see: " The Rest of The Story".

Wonderful Story!

Summary of 84, Charing Cross Road

Two years later, Hanff is outraged that Marks & Co. has dared to send an abridged Pepys diary. "i enclose two limp singles, i will make do with this thing till you find me a real Pepys. THEN i will rip up this ersatz book, page by page, AND WRAP THINGS IN IT." Nonetheless, her postscript asks whether they want fresh or powdered eggs for Christmas. Soon they're sharing news of Frank's family and Hanff's career. No doubt their letters would have continued, but in 1969, the firm's secretary informed her that Frank Doel had died. In the collection's penultimate entry, Helene Hanff urges a tourist friend, "If you happen to pass by 84, Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me. I owe it so much."

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