Brainstorm 274: England in the 1950s

In memory of Queen Elizabeth II, I have some books that shed light on the England she became Queen of in the 1950s. Click on the titles to see my full reviews and any content notes/trigger warnings (except for the Tommy & Tuppence book…it’s been several decades since I read that one).

84 Charing Cross Road, and the Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

The first half of this book is the original 84, Charing Cross Road which consists of correspondence between Helene Hanff, a TV script writer in New York City and a used book store's staff in London. Over many years of ordering books from this company, she strikes up relationships with several of the staff members and their families through correspondence back and forth. Eventually, she turns the letters into a book which funds the trip to London they've all wanted her to take for ages. And her diaries of this trip to London make up the second half of the book, originally published as The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. The correspondence starts in the late 1940s just after WWII and give a unique perspective of post-war England. Her tours of London are largely guided by history and literature so that part reads like a classic book lover's tour of London.

Target Readers:

Memoir Fans, Brit Lit Fans, Cozy Read Fans, Light Humor Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Epistolary Literature Fans, Travel Literature Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA) 

MI5 and Me: a Coronet among the Spooks by Charlotte Bingham

Charlotte Bingham was called into her father's office at 18 and told she needed to do something with her life. Oh, and her father works for MI5 and he's getting her a job as a secretary there. After recovering from that bombshell Charlotte was sure life as an MI5 secretary would be miserable and boring. Only time would tell if she was right or not.

This is a fascinating and very entertaining memoir about what real life was like in the 1950s as a secretary at MI5.

Target Readers:

Memoir Fans, Light Spy Story Fans, Cozy Read Fans, Light Humor Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA readers)

 

Partners in Crime (Tommy & Tuppence, #2) by Agatha Christie

Tommy and Tuppence are a married couple who work together as private investigators. In this volume in their cases, they are busy tracking down spies in 1950s Great Britain.

Target Readers:

Agatha Christie Fans, Mystery Fans, Spy Story Fans, Modern Classic Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1) by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce goes outside early one morning only to find a stranger breathing his last words in their cucumbers. Normal 11 year old girls would have screamed and fled the scene, but Flavia is 100% intrigued and when her father is arrested for the crime, is soon trying to untangle the knots surrounding the stranger, a rare stamp, her father's old schoolmaster, and the dead man in the garden.

This series is set in 1950s England, and though it features an 11 year old, it feels like a Golden Age crime mystery such as Christie might have written.

Target Readers:

Precocious Sleuth Fans, Mystery Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA readers)