84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

[lightreads]

Nonfiction, epistolary. Reprints of many letters the New York author exchanged with the staff of an English bookshop in the decades following World War II. Delightful. Shockingly, I am thoroughly charmed by the story of a previous generation who connected with people in far off places through the power of the written word in order to talk about something they all loved. You’re all stunned, I know. This book just made me happy, particularly as the careful reader can sense deep complexities under the surface and in the letters which are not printed. One of the final letters, after the author is informed that Frank, her first and most steadfast correspondent has died, is from Frank’s wife and it just made me wistful and pleased to belong to the human race.