Two decades of correspondence between London and New York
In simplest terms, this book is a collation of letters between the American author Helen Hanff and the staff in a London based (84 Charing Cross Road) second hand bookshop - “the loveliest old shop straight out of Dickens”.
With a style which is charming and economical, the correspondence starts in 1949, ends in 1969 and includes sufficient detail to illustrate British life during this period. It also portrays Hanff as forthright and independent with a passion for English literature and the classics.
Against the backdrop of a changing Britain - the sudden death of King George VI in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, the Beatles and their swooning fans – we become embroiled in the lives of the book shop staff, their families and even their neighbours.
Currently, the UK is under lockdown to control the spread of the Covid19 pandemic and the mainstream media make daily comparisons with the hardships of British life during the 2nd world war. Hanff shows us that - so far anyway – our cries of suffering are rather weak. As we complain about social distancing and having to queue for our groceries, in 1949 the British people faced far greater challenges. Food was still rationed and entailed an allocation of 2 ounces of meat per family per week and one egg per person per month, there was no sugar, sweets or nylons to buy. By contrast, as a New Yorker, Hanff was not subject to the same restrictions and greatly endeared herself to the bookshop staff and their families when she generously sent them food parcels of eggs and tinned meat.
The start of the book is strongest and promises more than is actually delivered because without a plot, there is no middle or end but rather a sense of anticlimax. Nevertheless, the collection transports us to the cosy nostalgia of an old bookshop, in a London lost in the mist of time. The tales of the characters' lives seemed mundane and superficial, but we still experienced a sense of loss when one of them unexpectedly passed.
Overall, this collection covers a lot of ground in a remarkably few pages and is a quick, easy and worthwhile read.
For those seeking Hanff’s suggestions for future reading, her demands and purchases included (in her words):
- John Donne
- William Blake (not a fan - he swoons too much)
- Virginia Woolf’s Common Reader
- The Pilgrims Way
- Sir Roger de Coverley papers
- EM Delafield’s Diary of a Provincial Lady
- Oxford book of English Prose
- Pepys diary
- Waltons Lives
- Pride and Prejudice
- Tristram Shandy
- Catullus
- De Tocqueville’s Journey to America
- Wind in theWillows
- Plato
- Lamb’s essays of Elia
- The memoirs of the Duke de Saint Simon
Due to the pandemic control measures, we have not been able to give a restaurant review this month. Instead, we can recommend a recipe for Yorkshire pudding which was sent to Helen Hanff in February 1951.
A verbatim extract from one letter:
A cup of flour, an egg, half a cup of milk and a good shake of salt into a large bowl and beat together until it is the consistency of thick cream. Put in the frig for several hours. When you put your roast in the oven, put in an extra pan to heat. Half an hour before your roast is done, pour a bit of the roast grease into the baking pan, just enough to cover the bottom will do. The pan must be very hot. Now pour the pudding in and the roast and pudding will be ready at the same time.
Completely new to Yorkshire pudding, Hanff wrote that it was “out of this world”. We have put the recipe to the test and confirm that it is quick, easy and definitely tasty.
Our next book takes us to India and to Australia. Why not share our pleasure as we read Lion by Saroo Brierley?
