New York City bibliophile Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) writes to the London bookshop Marks & Co in search of some titles she has not been able to turn up locally. Store manager Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins) responds politely to her chatty letter, and over the course of two decades, a deep, long-distance friendship evolves. Based on Hanff's epistolary memoir and its later two-person stage adaptation, the film version incorporates new characters, including Doel's wife, Nora (Judi Dench).