This book was given to my by my uncle when I was 10, for he knew it would appeal to me. It did and still does. I have reread this many times, and was just pulling it out to do it again and thought maybe I would pass on my love for this book.

The original manuscript was done by Arthur Quiller-Couch but never finished, so the great Daphne Dumaurier picked up the baton and carried on to give us a haunting tale of Auld Souls, star-crossed lovers shrouded in the mists of Cornwall. A simply country doctor recognises the signs and moves to keep the doomed lovers apart so the ancient pattern will not be repeated. But the more they try to keep them from each other, the more Fate steps is so prove the pattern cannot be broken.

A stunning gem, one I am surprised is not reprinted more or made in a movie.

Castle Dor's 19th-century Cornwall and its Arthurian mists have kept me coming back since I was a "in love with love" teenager. Like all of DuMaurier's work, it's either the first step -- or surely the determining step if you're already on the path -- to total Anglophilia (the only "philia" I think I care to own up to!).

The original manuscript was started by Arthur Quiller-Couch, and completed with remarkable seamlessness by DuMaurier upon his death. Written from the perspective of a quiet and respected country doctor, it's also an unusual lens for an author known best for her heroines.

A solitary "man of science," Dr. Carfax recognizes the pattern of an ancient and eternal doomed love being replayed in his era, and is pulled into it ... as are we, inevitably, with the coincidence of names and circumstance hinting at one of the greatest tragedies of Morte D'Arthur.

This is a lovely book; haunting, and a guaranteed keeper for devotees of the bittersweet.

Well, I hate to throw in a dissenting voice and vote when surrounded by such accolades, yet I must. Perhaps I expected too much after reading 84 Charing Cross Road. If you haven't read that book, I HIGHLY recommend you do so. In this, the sequel to that book, Helene Hannf talks about her experiences that resulted from the unexpected success of 84. Parts are indeed very interesting and do answer some questions that arise when reading the first book.
But on the down side I found some of her exploits long and trying on my patience. Her love of the theatre is evident in this and other books of hers that are about the theatre. I, however, do not share her enthusiasm and found these sections quite long. I would have been more interested in her reactions to the making of the movie 84 Charing Cross Road. Yes, I know, I know, this book came out longgg before the movie was made. Hey, it was just a wish.
Bottom line, if you enjoyed 84 Charing Cross Road, pick up a used copy of this as parts are worth reading.

What an upbeat book!
This is the romance of life's unpredictability; of life's path. Helene Hanff the author and our heroine in this autobiography is a person we can all identify with: with a high school education, a survivor's tenacity, a bright mind and a bit of luck she turns what could have been a mediocre existence into an exciting if quietly successful life! One could not have a more prototypical American dream. But here, it appears represented without the scrubbed clean, sanitized methods of Holywood.
Her wonderfully charming narration, leads us through her struggles as a writer in New York, through the apparent lucky accident of her book "84, Charring Cross Road," and the mesmerizing consequences that a successful book brings to her life. It is her persona though, who is fascinating: a strong woman with few doubts about likes and dislikes, who fights doggedly for a living, with a good sense of humor, generosity towards others and an apparent humility. What a combination! But to top it off she is sharp, quick, loves books and what they can teach her.
This is a book to be read in one sitting, but only after you read "84 Charring Cross Road." It is fun, upbeat, a charmer and it also has an almost oldfashioned value: it celebrates life!

When Helene Hanff runs out of money and has to leave college, she takes her education into her own hands. In the public library she searches for books on English literature "the Best -- written in language I could understand." Beginning with the A's, taking down one volume after another, she works her way through the alphabet, arriving at the M's without finding what she wants.

Most of the books were of 19th and 20th century writers and she wanted the great works of England: Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, the Bible, etc.

"I went on through the N's, O's and P's," she writes, "fighting a suspicion that what I wanted didn't exist. There was only one book under Q."

And what a book. ON THE ART OF WRITING by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, M.A., King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge. Impressed with his credentials and the simplicity and clarity of his writing, she decides she can study with "Q," as she calls him, "without necessarily agreeing with everything he said." So she takes him home.

"In the first chapter," she writes, "he threw so many marvelous quotes at me...from Walton's ANGLER and Newman's IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY and Milton's PARADISE LOST -- that I rushed back to the library and brought home all three, determined to read them before going on to Q's second lecture." And so it went. From PARADISE LOST to the New Testament to . . . ad infinitum.

Life and reality (the need to find a job) intrude; she gets involved in community theater, becomes publicity agent (sort of) for the Theater Guild of New York, works as a reader for the New York Story Department of Paramount Pictures, all the while reading her way through Q's list of classical English literature. Then, one morning, she sees an obituary in the Times: "Quiller-Couch dies at age 80."

She feels as though she's lost a friend. "I felt suddenly lost with Q gone. Till I looked at the books of his lectures ranged on the top bookshelf and thought, 'He's not gone, you nut, you have him in the house.'" So she sets out to buy the books he taught her to love.

Enter the Out-of-Print books column of the Saturday Review, where she finds an ad: "Marks & Co., Antiquarian Booksellers, 84 Charing Cross Road, London." She writes for books and thus begins the correspondence that will quicken her romantic imagination, break her heart, and make Hanff a celebrated writer in 30 years.

In Q's LEGACY, Hanff tells about writing the book, the play and the television production. She describes the trip to England that takes her to Q's study. There's a lot here about her fan mail and her fans, as well. It's a portrait of a bright and persistant woman in pursuit of knowledge and culture, a dance with destiny, and a fascinating picture of the rewards (and problems) of success.

Best of all, it's written in an easy, natural style. It's a love letter to life, books, learning and bibliphiles.