jemimajane 's review for:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, Marina Premoli

4.0

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A beautiful correspondence spanning 20 years, from 1949-1969. I loved the bite-sized look into the personalities of (predominately) two people, continents apart, who never met but bonded over an appreciation for old English texts. Helene Hanff, one of the two key writers, and the person who instigated the publication of this book, had a jaunty and witty sense of humour which often made me laugh. It’s a short book, one in which you can easily dip in and out, and essentially conveys the innate goodness of much of humankind.

I think the quote that best sums up the collection is by Bill Humphries, a cataloguer at Marks & Co. Booksellers: “It’s certainly good to know that someone so many miles away can be so kind and generous to people they haven’t even seen…”