What I am reading: 84 Charing Cross Road

I recently read this classic book first published in 1970. Most people know the story: New York author Helene Hanff writes letters to a London bookshop situated at 84 Charing Cross Road. This charming book reprints the many letters that she sends to the bookshop over many years as she requests copies of various books she wishes to read, and the replies from the people working in the shop.

While this book is a thin volume it still fascinates the reader, despite its quaint and somewhat outdated attitudes and expressions. It is a reminder of a by-gone era, when people had time to correspond, when books were treasured items to be sought after and possessed – not kept on e-readers – and when times in post-war England were quite different as well as difficult.

84 Charing Cross Road was written by Helene Hanff and published by Penguin.