The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff is a loose sequel to her earlier memoir 84 Charring Cross Road, an epistolary collection. You really need to read that first to appreciate Duchess, and it gave more personal insight into the UK after the war and the life of shortage and recovery then anything I’ve read before.
Duchess is her travelogue of visiting England in the early 70s on a travel tour for the first book. As someone who was in love and very knowledgeable about the UK, but had never been there it’s an interesting window into the reality verses the expectation. It’s also an interesting snapshot of the UK just before the transformation of the Thatcher era. Both works are novella length and quick reads.
I also really liked two memoirs of New Wave musicians that gave a picture of the UK music scene in the 1970s. Chrissy Hyndes Reckless and Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. As and American and Irishman they both give an outsider’s view.
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The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff is a loose sequel to her earlier memoir 84 Charring Cross Road, an epistolary collection. You really need to read that first to appreciate Duchess, and it gave more personal insight into the UK after the war and the life of shortage and recovery then anything I’ve read before.
Duchess is her travelogue of visiting England in the early 70s on a travel tour for the first book. As someone who was in love and very knowledgeable about the UK, but had never been there it’s an interesting window into the reality verses the expectation. It’s also an interesting snapshot of the UK just before the transformation of the Thatcher era. Both works are novella length and quick reads.
I also really liked two memoirs of New Wave musicians that gave a picture of the UK music scene in the 1970s. Chrissy Hyndes Reckless and Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. As and American and Irishman they both give an outsider’s view.
Thanks for the recommendations.
Early M. Amis
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureshi