84, Charing Cross Road

By: Helene Hanff

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat, John Franklyn-Robbins

When Helene Hanff makes an innocent inquiry about the possibility of purchasing hard-to-find books through Marks and Co., Booksellers, she begins a 20-year love affair with Frank Doel, the proper English bookseller who answers her letter and sends along her first order in the fall of 1949.

They are two very unlikely correspondents: she a cranky Jewish New Yorker who writes TV scripts and lives in a messy apartment on East 95th Street; he a determinedly courteous middle-class Englishman who sends her beautifully bound and often obscure antiquarian books from the shop he manages on Charing Cross Road in London.

The letters, written between 1949 and 1969, capture the period and pay tribute to the special kind of reader who treasures a well-worn classic.

©1970 Helen Hanff (P)1993 Recorded Books, LLC

Amazing book.

I loved this. It's in the format of letters and is the correspondence of a long friendship. The audio contrast between the New York author and the rather formal Brittish bookseller really adds so much. I can't recommend it enough.

Pure Delight

Just a lovely little glimpse of small connections between people who never met, yet the passion
for books forged a wonderful correspondence that gives such pleasure to the reader.
This is amazingly read by Barbara Rosenblat as the American voice from her life in
Manhattan.. wish there was more, but it's the small things that strike the heart.

Light and Literary

This quick listen is kinda charming. A brassy New York writer corresponds with a seemingly stuffy London bookseller, seeking obscure out-of-print classics. The correspondence leads to long-distance friendship. It’s all true, and it’s read by pros.

Engrossing, Enchanting, and Endearing.

With this book you enter 1949 England and discover what the English did to survive the rationing of that era. You get to know the many characters through the many vocal artists who lend their skills to this story. I highly recommend it, especially to writers who wish to learn the art of capturing their audience.

A Charming Story in Letters

This felt so beautiful and personal. Makes me want to read every book Helene requested. Truly inspiring. Thank you.