Product Description

A remarkable novelist and legendary letter-writer, Nancy Mitford was also a bookseller. From 1942 to 1946 she worked in Heywood Hill's famous shop in Curzon Street. After the war she lived in France but maintained an interest in the shop and its customers-a cavalcade of the literary stars of post-war Britain. Her letters to Hill advise on recent French titles and Parisian gossip and ask about the reception of her own books. In return Hill updates her on London's literary life. Charming and witty, the correspondence gives brilliant insights into an almost lost world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293779 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-26
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .57" h x 5.12" w x 7.90" l, .44 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 191 pages

Books in Canada
Finally, bibliophiles should note the publication of The Bookshop At 10 Curzon Street: Letters Between Nancy Mitford And Heywood Hill 1952-1973. Those simply looking for a reprise of 84 Charing Cross Road will be disappointed because the newer title lacks the innocence of the earlier-still, it has other charms. Mitford was a popular novelist in her day, but few knew that as a young woman she had worked as a general dogsbody in one of the more famous London bookshops of the twentieth century. Following WWII she moved to France, and it is her correspondence from the Continent with her ex-boss on Curzon Street which forms the basis of the book. She regaled him with news of what the bigwigs of literary France were thinking and celebrating and trashing. He kept her abreast of London literary gossip, genuine book news, the foibles of famous people who came to the shop, and the UK reactions to her own novels. The editor has done a good job of annotating otherwise obscure references and persons. While hardly desert-island fare, the book is fun to read for its insights into what was important to two erudite Britons at mid-century, and even old, good gossip (like good ol’ gossip) remains strangely compelling.
Greg Gatenby (Books in Canada)

Review
The collection gives a lovely taste of an era now long gone Daily Telegraph Charming, witty and utterly irresistible Sunday Telegraph

About the Author
John Saumerez Smith has worked at Heywood Hill's bookshop since 1965 and managed it since 1974. He reviews, catalogues and lectures on books, advises on private and other libraries, acts as Honorary Librarian at Chequers, and has been variously described as a book man, a book expert and a book doctor.