Christina Agnes Lilian Foyle (30 January 1911 – 8 June 1999) was an English bookseller and owner of

Foyles W & G Foyle Ltd. (usually called simply Foyles) is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in the '' Guinness Book of Records'' as th ...

bookshop.

Early life

Miss Foyle (as she liked to be called) was born in London, the daughter of

William Foyle William Alfred Westropp Foyle (1885–1963) was a British bookseller and businessman who co-founded Foyles bookshop in 1903 with his brother Gilbert Foyle. William Foyle was one of the leading London booksellers of the 20th century. In 190 ...

, a leading bookseller, owner of Foyles, on the Charing Cross Road in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government build ...

. The shop had been established in 1904 by William and his brother Gilbert Foyle. Another brother was Charles Henry Foyle, inventor of the "folding carton" and founder of Boxfoldia. At the age of seventeen, after leaving a Swiss finishing school, Christina Foyle started working at her father's bookshop, and never left. She was the only one of Foyle’s three children who made a career in the business."Christina Foyle The power behind the biggest bookshop in the world, as well as a legendary series of literary lunches"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 10 June 1999, accessed 7 September 2021 In 1930, when she was nineteen, Foyle created the world's first public literary luncheon, bringing together notable writers and other distinguished figures, to meet members of the public. The idea came to her from talking to

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

, Shaw,

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...

'' to an elderly customer who was looking for something to read on the train. He bought a copy, but returned it to her a short time later inscribed with the words "For the young lady who liked my book – John Galsworthy."

Career

For almost seventy years Christina Foyle presided over the Foyles literary luncheons. They usually took place at the Dorchester or the

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, originally named the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott Internat ...

, and usually a guest speaker (who included

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

) spoke in praise of a book, as well as the author. In May 1936, the Left Book Club was established, and about the end of 1936 a group of “neo-Tories” proposed the creation of a right-wing book club. William and Christina Foyle undertook to organize it, and the Right Book Club was launched at a luncheon at the Grosvenor House Hotel in April 1937, with

Lord Stonehaven John Lawrence Baird of Urie, 1st Viscount Stonehaven, 1st Baron Stonehaven, 2nd Baronet, 3rd of Ury, (27 April 1874 – 20 August 1941) was a British politician who served as the eighth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1925 to 19 ...

, the recently-retired

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in government, the off ...

, presiding.Bernhard Dietz, ''Neo-Tories: The Revolt of British Conservatives against Democracy and Political Modernity (1929-1939)'' (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018)
p. 108
/ref> The Right Book Club republished titles with conservative and

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

themes. In 1945, control of the shop passed to Miss Foyle. It was under her that the shop stagnated, with little investment and poorly paid staff who could be fired on a whim. She resisted unionisation of bookshop staff, sacking most employees just before they had worked there six months, when they would gain limited job protection rights.John Walsh
"Foyles, the bookshop that time forgot"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 23 January 2003. She refused to install electronic tills or calculators, and orders would not be taken by phone. The shop would, however, order expensive books from as far off as Germany without prepayment. The shop operated a payment system that required customers to queue three times: to collect an invoice for a book, to pay the invoice, then to collect the book: because sales staff were not allowed to handle cash.Michael Handelzalts
"Foyled and found again"
'' Haaretz'', 30 May 2003. There was a shelving arrangement that categorised books by publisher, rather than by topic or author. A quote of this period is: "Imagine Kafka had gone into the book trade." In the 1980s a rival bookshop placed an advertisement in a bus shelter opposite Foyles: ''"Foyled again? Try

Dillons Dillons is a grocery supermarket chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas, and is a division of Kroger. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri and Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska. Dillons operates grocery stores throughout K ...

"''. Foyle met many leading literary and political figures during her life. Her collection of personal correspondence included a letter from

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, responding to her complaint about

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

book-burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politi ...

. Her literary friends included

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...

, Charles de Gaulle,

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

St Cuthbert Gospel, for the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in 2011/12. To the year ending June 2010 £41.4m worth of grants had been offered by the Foyle Foundation.

In popular culture

Screenwriter

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz, (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include ''The Diamond Brothers'' series, the '' Alex Rider'' series, and '' ...

has said that Miss Foyle was the namesake for the title character, Christopher Foyle, in the ITV series ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

''.

References

External links

Obituary
''

'', 10 June 1999.
Obituary
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 11 June 1999
Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 10 June 1999 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foyle, Christina 1911 births 1999 deaths English booksellers English businesspeople in retailing Businesspeople from London Philanthropists from London 20th-century British philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century women philanthropists

Early life

Career

In popular culture

See also

References

External links