The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street: Letters between Nancy Mitford and Haywood Hill 1952-1973by John Saumarez Smith (Editor)
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780711224520
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Pages: 191
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
This collection of previously unpublished correspondence with Heywood Hill is filled with gossip about life in Paris, tales of her writing life, and her own personal request for books. Hill in turn provides news of customers - many of whom were the elite of post-war London - and reports on how Mitford's books were being revived in London. It is an intimate and charming look at a world that has all but disappeared and will appeal to anyone interested in postwar English literature and/or high society.
Here’s the thing about publishing a person’s letters post mortem: they were written to friends – in this case one, very good, very long-time friend – and as such contain all sorts of personal references, names of mutual friends, inside jokes, and most frustratingly, a shorthand form of communication built up over years that’s really only obvious to the correspondents themselves. The editor Johns Saumerez Smith, does his best to clarify as much as possible, but there’s quite a lot that went over my head regardless.
In addition to the insider knowledge required to really, really appreciate this collection, Johns Saumerez Smith, in an effort at conciseness, interest, and probably respect of Haywood’s and Mitford’s privacy, edited each letter down to the bits he felt were humorous, with the effect that as a reader, I felt a bit frustrated – because references would be made to one thing or another in one letter that were never followed up on in subsequent letters. There are letters in their chain of correspondence that are missing in the archives, and Johns Saumerez Smith did his best to summarise (I assume from other sources) the gaps. But the one thing that really irritated me is that Saumerez Smith left out letters that exist but have already been published in one of the other 2 broader collections of Mitford’s letters, making the (erroneous in my case) assumption that the reader had already seen them, because, of course, the reader would have already read both the other collections.
Overall though, I enjoyed this glimpse into Mitford’s life, and the drama at the Haywood Hill bookshop … I wish they’d discussed it more and in fuller detail; it sounds like quite a drama. A lot of joy comes through though, and a lot of irreverence, so that even if I didn’t understand all the references, I enjoyed the glimpse I got into a valued friendship.