In celebration of all things yellow
"Even in Central Park you’ll see flaming red and orange trees – and a yellow that on a grey day looks lit by a 500-watt bulb."
Helene Hanff, Letter from New York
In celebration of all things yellow...
The daffs are blooming in force, the sun is out (a little bit, anyway), and this week we got to choose the perfect New York taxi cab-matching yellow for the cloth spine for our new edition of Helene Hanff's Letter from New York.
If you are a new reader (waves hello), you might not yet know about our wonderful designer Myfanwy from This Side who is the style guru behind Manderley Press books. Here's one of her photos from last week that I just had to share with you (above) - there is no better way to spend one's working hours than with a fellow colour-addict, talking, thinking and selecting the perfect colour for the perfect book.
Anyway, all this talk of yellow made me want to check Helene Hanff's text to see if she also noted anything of this colour in Letter from New York. It turns out that it is mentioned quite a lot, and I've chosen a few of the best references below, as they also seem to draw in the reader nicely to New York life.
So whether you're in London or New York, or anywhere in between, I wish you a very happy Sunday and golden-hued week to come. Here are a few Helene Hanff snippets to set you on your way.
Rebeka x
"We drove up to Bear Mountain last year and the whole side of the mountain looked as if a house-painter had thrown buckets of paint at it. Not just red and orange and yellow, but blue and lavender. You look at the colours of the leaves and you don’t believe them."
"Even in Central Park you’ll see flaming red and orange trees – and a yellow that on a grey day looks lit by a 500-watt bulb."
"Generally speaking, Village flats have two or three small rooms; décor: cheerfully Bohemian. Bright woven Mexican rugs, lots of orange and yellow cushions, abstract wall paintings by Village artists, pottery ashtrays, vases and coffee mugs made in Village shops."
"The Shakespeare Gardeners thank you, New York thanks you, and I can’t tell you what it meant to me, to see the long row of yellow buds flower into white roses again, like a line of small Phoenixes rising from the ashes."
A brand new edition of Helene Hanff’s letters, as broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
First published in the 1990s and now re-issued with an introduction by the New York Times bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz, and illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan.
The book will be published in September this year, but you can pre-order copies below and we will post them out as soon as they arrive in our warehouse (estimated May 2023).
Each book ordered through the website will be wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a matching silk ribbon, free of charge - and will also include an exclusive bookmark designed to complement the cover design.