The Duchess Of Bloomsbury Street (1995) - Plot & Excerpts
The conversation continues, although half of it was in my imagination. After finishing 84 Charing Cross Road, I had to keep talking to Helene Hanff. Tennessee Williams should be ashamed, making the phrase,"the kindness of strangers" mean the exact opposite. Hanff's diary entries from her trip to London include many examples of real kindness, of brief encounters with lovely people. (Ex. page 118)p. 26 She's bemused when her efforts to achieve an ascot with her scarf are described as chic and French in a British newspaper.p. 38 She's self-taught and therefore doesn't know how to pronounce everything. Ex. Ferencp. 51 She describes how that education occurred. She'd start with one book, which would lead her to others to find answers to understand what she readp.54 Though this is a diary of her time in London, there's much about NY. For instance, what she calls Dog Hill in Central Park and a memorable picnic where she lost her sandwichp. 58 She's amazed that 84 made her into a celebrity, or as the duchess she feels during her visit, and wondrous at how the success of it restored her faith in herself and introduced her to bookish strangers and gave her the means to fulfill her lifelong dream of seeing literary Londonp. 60 Delightful one-liner from actress Joyce Grenfell; when Hanff says she's fighting a cold, Grenfell replies, "oh have it." Even though Hanff does give in to the cold, she still feels her return address on letters home should be "Euphoria."p 61 There's a brief ref to WWII and Ger, where she admits she doesn't mind the young Germans in her hotel b/c it wasn't their doing.64 Makes great friends with Leo and Ena Marks. He asks why they haven't heard of her earlier works, "Too good or not good enough." She answers with honest self-awareness, "Not good enough."68 Gray's Elegy73 She tires of telling people she's not a fan of bookshops per se. She loves books and once she's got them from the library and knows she wants them, she'll get it from a bookshop79 Her trouble getting a decent martini requires her to instruct the bartender88 She uses the same word Elizabeth von Arnim used in Enchanted April: originals. Must check this slang.105 A nice way of saying she pulled herself together after the frustrations of getting lost: "ate myself pleasant." 105-6 She claims she's ashamed in the face of other's being so much better read and educated than her. "My problem is that while other people are reading 50 books I'm reading one book 50 times."108 Finally sees St. Paul's115 Hears story from book dealers of books buried in London after WWII128 She's asked why Americans love the poem "Gray's Elegy." She hadn't realized they did but admits she didn't have the nerve, "the moral backbone," to say she did not know. She concocts a reason and decides it's pretty good.133 Nora, Frank Doel's widow, admits to her that she was often jealous and would ask him how he dared bringing another woman's letters home to read to his wife and daughters. Hanff tells her she need only have worried if he had NOT shared them. Nora shared that he always said the same thing. They were kindred literary spirits. I used an old ticket for the Boston Opera House as my bookmark; it seemed most appropriate.
..."All my life I've wanted to see London. I used to go to English movies just to look at streets with houses like those. Staring at the screen in a dark theater, I wanted to walk down those streets so badly it gnawed at me like hunger. Sometimes, at home in the evening, reading a casual description of London by Hazlitt or Leigh Hunt, I'd put the book down suddenly, engulfed by a wave of longing that was like homesickness. I wanted to see London the way old people want to see home before they die." In this sequel to 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff finally gets to London, 20 years after she began correspondence with the antique bookseller there. It's a charming story of London seen through her eyes. She has a fun and unique perspective of things: "...She and Leo will pick me up here at hoppusseven. Nobody over here says "six-thirty" or "seven-thirty," they say "hoppussix" and "hoppusseven." ...and a newsstand is a kiosk, a subway's the tube, a drug store's a chemist's, bus is a coach, a truck is a lorry, cash and carry is cash and wrap and as Shaw once observed, we are two countries divided by a common language. I am now going to bed because it's quataposstwelve." ...a quick, entertaining read...
What do You think about The Duchess Of Bloomsbury Street (1995)?
This a a companion piece to Hanff's first book, 84, Charing Cross Road. After a 20-year correspondence with a book shop, Hanff finally makes it to jolly ole London. While I adored her first book, and the movie by the way, this book sort of fell flat for me. I've never been to London, while I would love to, so a lot of the references regarding authors, actresses, artists, and points of interest in the city were lost on me. But what wasn't lost was Hanff's characteristic humor; trying to get a taxi to take her to a dinner, how she allows someone to paint her portrait but she doesn't want to see it, and how she teaches a bartender how to make a REAL gin martini (always more gin!) Ah, a woman after my own heart! This was fun, but what was more fun was seeing this trip through Hanff's eyes.
—Chris
Did I read this book last year? I can't remember. I thought I started it and never finished it, but when I finally did read it all the way through (it's a very short book), the entire thing seemed familiar. I think Helene Hanff is a hoot, and I love this story of her first trip to London. I don't think anybody who hasn't already read "84 Charing Cross Road" will care a whit about this book. Those of us who have read about Helene's passion for English literature and her repeatedly dashed hopes of visiting London can't help but give a little cheer when she finally gets to make her visit. Although there are some descriptions of the places she visits, the book is more about her reactions to those places. I especially like the passage in which she visits a pub frequented by William Shakespeare. Initially irritated by the customers who seem not to share her sense of awe at the historic import of the place, she suddenly realizes that many of Shakespeare's characters are present, embodied in the modern day clientele: "...there was a blond, bearded Justice Shallow talking to the bartender. Further along the bar, Bottom the Weaver was telling his ponderous troubles to a sharp-faced Bardolph. And at a table right next to us, in a flowered dress and pot-bellied white hat, Mistress Quickly was laughing fit to kill."This was a quick, thoroughly enjoyable little book for me. For those who aren't fans of "84 Charing Cross Road," Hanff's "Letters from New York" is equally amusing and is much more of a stand-alone work.
—Sharla Desy
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is the sequel to Hanff’s memoir, 84 Charing Cross Road. It takes the form of a journal she kept when she finally made it to London to promote the publication of 84 Charing Cross Road after the death of Frank Doel. HIGHLIGHTS: I read The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street in one sitting. I loved Hanff’s second memoir. I read a review online that described The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street as beautiful and charming. I think those words are a perfect description of this memoir. Hanff is an excellent writer. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street has the perfect mix of emotion and comedy. Hanff’s vivid descriptions of London and all the places she visited during her brief stay were fantastic. I felt like I was right there with her, taking part in it all. I’ve never visited London so she brought the city to life for me. There were some lovely and funny moments in The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Hanff is great at the little details. I didn’t want to put The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street down. LOWLIGHTS: I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like about The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. It was the perfect, charming little package. THE OPENING LINE Theoretically, it was one of the happiest days of my life… FINAL THOUGHTSI enjoyed The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street much more than 84 Charing Cross Road. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street wasn’t restricted by the epistolary format of Hanff’s other memoir. It was much longer and I got really absorbed in it.
—Pamela Scott
