Esther Racah Writer & Literary Blogger

Tag: Helene Hanff

  • The 84 Charing Cross Road Book

    The 84 Charing Cross Road Book

    84, Charing Cross Road is the first book on my second list, and it is an epistolary 1970 book by Helene Hanff. It is about her twenty-year correspondence with the English bookseller Frank Doel. 

    The Beginning of a Long Correspondence

    84, Charing Cross Road is an epistolary short book, which is not only about books and literature. It starts on the 5th of October 1949, when Helene writes her first letter to the Marks & Co. antiquarian library in London. She discovers this library because of an advertisement about “antiquarian booksellers”. In her first letter, Miss Hanff describes herself as a “poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books”. Indeed, her tastes did not encounter any match in New York libraries, where the rare editions were expensive, and she found “grimy” the editions at Barnes & Noble. Helene prefers clean secondhand copies of the books she specifies in her letters. Hence, it starts a correspondence between Helene and some employees of the bookshop. In the beginning, the tone of the letters is formal, but things change with the time.

    Informal Letters

    After some time, Helene starts to write about herself and her life. She describes herself as a Jew with a Catholic sister-in-law, a Methodist sister-in-law, different Presbyterian cousins and a Christian Science healer aunt. Helene starts sending to the bookshop other gifts, which consist mainly of food. On December 20, 1949, Frank Doel starts a long-distance epistolary conversation with Helene. Miss Hanff portrays herself as a script-reader and writer working in her small and cold ground-floor apartment in New York. Although she lives in moth-eaten sweaters and wool slacks, she spends her savings in antique books, and she is very fond of British literature. 

    This is how I imagine to be the 84 Charing Cross Road Bookshop in London

    The correspondence continues

    In one letter Cecily, one of the bookshop employees, writes the Yorkshire Pudding recipe for Helene, who immensely appreciates it. In another letter, Helene complains about how America helps Japan and Germany financially, letting England starve. Helene adds to her wishlist also vocal scores such as the Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Handel’s Messiah ( I personally love Bach! ). She keeps sending food parcels to the bookshop because of the food shortage in Britain after the Second World War. The bookshop sends gifts to Helene as well, such as a hand-embroidered Irish linen tablecloth. Another time Frank Doel invites Helene to his and his wife house in her future trip to England. Miss Hanff keeps writing scripts for the television, and her screenplays have artistic backgrounds as she describes in one of her letters. Although Helene doesn’t like fictional novels, she is fond of Jane Austen and her Pride & Prejudice book.  

    The last part of the book

    Helene keeps postponing her trip to Britain due to her precarious financial status. After some time, she gets a new job as a writer of American History dramatisations, and after that, she starts writing a book about the story of his life. Helene expresses herself so informally with the expression “You and your Olde English books! You see how it is, Frankie, you’re the only soul alive who understands me”. The correspondences between Helene and Frank continues until his death, which happened on December 22, 1968. Despite Helene and Frank never met, they were close friends mostly due to their bibliophilia and some affinity. The bookshop Marks & Co. ceased every business on December 1970, and a commemorative round brass plaque was placed on the left of the bookshop entrance. 

    Just a few words

    This lovely book is about the passion for books, literature, music and culture in general. Unfortunately, when Helene visited England, she did not have any chance to see the bookshop, which had been an anchor in her life for twenty years. At that moment she realised the importance to write a book about this story. The book had immediate success, and it became a cult book, which Miss Hanff would define as “my little nothing book”. In 1971, Helene visited Charing Cross Road and the empty shop, besides visiting London and Southern England. She met Nora, Frank Doel’s widow, and the daughter Sheila. Helene never married preferring her own company and not needing a life partner. Since I’ve never been to the UK, I plan a trip in the future as well. Since the age of six, I started learning English, and I have a tremendous English literature passion.

  • My Second List Of Books

    My Second List Of Books

    My second list of books includes twelve novels that I sorted by title. These novels belong to American, British, and German literature.

      1. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff                        84, Charing Cross Road is the first novel in my second list of books84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 epistolary book and is the first in my second list of books. This novel is about books and English literature and about twenty years of correspondence between the writer Helene, who lived in New York, and her friend Frank Doel from London. Their shared love for books and literature connected them in a long time close friendship.

      2. 1984 by George Orwell   1984 is the second book in my second list of books1984 is a satirical, futuristic, dystopian novel about totalitarianism depriving individuality and freedom. It is the second novel in my second list of books. The year of publication is 1949, and it takes place in a province of the superstate Oceania in the year 1984. The main character is Winston Smith, who dreams about a revolution against the totalitarian Party. 

      3. The Aeronauts: Travels in the Air By James Glaisher                     The Aeronauts is the third novel in my second list of books

        The third novel in my second list of books is The Aeronauts book about extraordinary flights and discoveries. The main character is the scientist James Glaisher, who explored the skies like no one before and the book’s author. A meteorologist and photographer with a passion for hot balloons and sky exploration. A book of discoveries during incredible travels in the air.

      4. Animal Farm by George Orwell                                          Animal Farm is the fourth book in my second list of books

        The fourth book on my list is Animal Farm, which is an allegorical story. It is a dystopian novel by the English author George Orwell, who published it in 1945. The plot is about a group of farm animals, which organises a revolution against irresponsible human farmers. The animals dream about equality, freedom and happiness. 

      5. The Blue Castle by L.M. MontgomeryThe Blue Castle is the fifth novel in my second list of booksThe Blue Castle is the fifth novel in my second list of books, and it is a 1926 novel by the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. This romance takes place in Canada before the First World War, and the protagonist is Valancy Stirling. She is a single woman who lives unhappily with her distressful family. She escapes from reality, dreaming about a blue castle.
      6. Cranford by Elizabeth GaskellCranford is the sixth novel in my second list of books

        The sixth novel in my second list of books is Cranford, which is a well-known novel. Elizabeth Gaskell published it between 1851 and 1853. The background of this novel is a small English town in the mid-nineteenth century. The protagonists are the two spinster sisters Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, and it is a portrait of a small society of women.

      7. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton The Custom of the Country is the seventh book in my second list of booksThe seventh book on my list is The Custom of the Country, a 1913 novel and a literary masterwork by the American author Edith Wharton. It is the story of Undine Spragg, a beautiful and ambitious girl. She is a fortune seeker who uses her beauty and charm only to marry a rich man. 

      8. The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith                    The Diary of a Nobody is the eighth novel in my second list of books

        The Diary of a Nobody is an 1892 English comic novel, which describes Charles Pooter’s chronicles daily in a narrow-minded society. It is the eighth novel in my second list of books, and it is a daily diary, which collects the memories of his ordinary middle-class life. 

      9. Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais by Suzanne Fagence Cooper                                  The ninth book is Effie, which is about the beautiful and intelligent Effie Gray’s adventures a young Scottish socialite living in the Victorian era. She was an extraordinary woman who supported her husband’s career, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.

      10. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim              The Enchanted April is the tenth book in my second list of booksThe Enchanted April is the tenth book in my second list of books. It is a 1922 novel about four women living in England and going to Portofino to spend a holiday in an Italian castle. In Italy, they enjoy an unforgettable period in an enchanting and beautiful place.

      11. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy     

        The eleventh novel in my second list of books is Far from the Madding Crowd

        In my second list of books, the eleventh novel is Far from the Madding Crowd, an 1874 book, the fourth novel of Thomas Hardy and his first success. It takes place in rural Wessex in the 1860s, and the protagonist is Bathsheba Everdene, a farmer. She has an independent and fearless personality. This novel is full of turmoils, tragedies and heartbreak. 

      12. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe         
        Faust is the twelfth novel in my second list of books

        Faust is a classic German legend about the successful historian Johann Georg Faust, who finds discontent in his life. He makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for indefinite knowledge and enjoyment. In the end, Faust will find destruction and redemption. It is the twelfth novel on my list. 

© Esther Racah 2026. All rights reserved.