84, Charing Cross Road - by Helene Hanff (Paperback)

About the Book

Reprint. Originally published: New York: Grossman, 1970.

Book Synopsis

"Such a delightful reading experience . . . During Covid . . . everything was so chaotic and weird and depressing and lonely, and that book felt like the antidote to all of that." --Virginia Evans, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Correspondent, on The New York Times Book Review podcast

A heartwarming love story about people who love books for readers who love books

This funny, poignant, classic love story unfolds through a series of letters between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road. Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a charming, sentimental friendship based on their common love for books. Discover the relationship that has touched the hearts of thousands of readers around the world, and was the basis for a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.

Review Quotes

"I loved it and was so moved by it. . . . It was such a delight." --Virginia Evans, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Correspondent, on the podcast Totally Booked with Zibby

"A real-life love story . . . A timeless period piece. Do read it." ―The Wall Street Journal

"Those who have read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel comprised of only letters between the characters, will see how much that bestseller owes 84, Charing Cross Road." --Medium.com

"[84, Charing Cross Road] will beguile an hour of your time and put you in tune with mankind. . . . It will provide an emollient for the spirit and a sheath for the exposed nerve." --The New York Times

"A unique, throat-lumping, side-splitting treasure." --San Francisco Examiner

About the Author

Helene Hanff (1916-1997) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1940s and '50s she wrote plays and television scripts in New York City but found little success until her best-known book, 84, Charing Cross Road, was published in 1970. The book was a smash hit and has been adapted for the radio, stage, film, and television.