Review | Book review: the author of 84 Charing Cross Road remembers her first trip to the UK

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
by Helene Hanff
Amazon Digital Services (e-book)

Helene Hanff need not be typecast for having written the towering success that was 84 Charing
Cross Road, the 1970 memoir-in-correspondence that became the equally impressive Anthony Hopkins film of the same name. In 1973, Hanff delivered The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, now available electronically, which details the trip she made from New York to London for the British publication of the book. That volume grew from the 20-year exchange of letters she enjoyed with Frank Doel, of booksellers Marks & Co, who supplied her with rare titles. This sequel has Hanff finally setting foot in the country she has long lusted after. Duchess is rendered just as charming, perceptive and honest as its precursor – and just as unsuitable for those of a remotely cynical or jaundiced bent.