Other epistolary stories I’ve enjoyed include Bram Stokers Dracula, The Diary of a Young Girlby Anne Frank, and Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Lettersby Mark Dunn. Letters can bring to life events that history books may paint with a broad brush through small details, such as the food rationing in Britain during and after the second world war.
Personal correspondence contributes not only to literary endeavors, but also to history, providing first hand accounts of life – a snapshot in time of the senders’ world. It is the little things in the letters, the attitude of Helene when she has not received any books in a while (including the absence of capitalization), the warm responses and small details about the shop included in the invoices from Frank, that draw a reader in, so much that at times it feels more like fiction than non-fiction. closed in 1970, the year the book was published. Several letters include plans for Helene to travel to London and visit the bookshop herself, though as of the time of the last letter in the book, in 1969, she had not. The book contains several letters between Helene and others in Frank’s life, including co-workers, his wife, and even one from a friend who is traveling and visits the bookshop on Helene’s behest, writing back a lovely description of the establishment. That sounds stuffy and he’s not, he’s quite nice really, very nice in fact, it’s just that he does rather look on you as his private correspondent as all your letters and parcels are addressed to him.” Cecily Farr, 7th April, 1950
“Please don’t let Frank know I’m writing this but every time I send you a bill I’ve been dying to slip in a little note and he might not think it quite proper of me. Her actions cause other staff at the shop to reach out: This friendship grows over twenty years, over many book orders, and Helene ordering much coveted foodstuffs sent to the shop in the heavily rationed England, making sure to include other shop workers in her generosity. There is great contrast between Helene’s bombastic personality, and Frank’s staid one, but you get the sense of genuine care between the two. Over the course of her letters and requests for various titles, Helene gets the bookseller, Frank Doel, to open up. Her queries to the London based Marks & Co. The collection starts in October 1949, with a letter sent from her New York apartment, in which Helene inquires about used copies of several titles.
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