Hi everyone, I hope you have enjoyed this month’s title so far. This week I will be reviewing an adult read, a memoir of sorts. If you enjoy all things to do with words and letters, especially the different types of fonts that are out there, then today is your lucky day!! So, friends, pull up your favourite brew and settle down…
Title: Marcel’s letters: A font, and a search for one man’s fate
Author: Carolyn Porter
Genre: Biography
Publication details: Skyhorse Publishing; NY, 2017
ISBN: 9781510719330 (Hardcover)
What this book is about: When graphic designer Carolyn Porter went seeking inspiration for a new font design, she didn’t expect it to lead her across the ocean and deep into the past. She stumbled across some old letters in an antique store in small town Stillwater, Minnesota, and was immediately drawn to the beautifully expressive pen-and-ink handwriting. She could not read the letters – they were in French – but she noticed they had been signed by a man named Marcel and mailed from Berlin to France during the middle of World War II. As Carolyn grappled with designing the font, she decided to have one of Marcel’s letters translated. Reading words of love combined with testimony of survival inside a German labour camp transformed Carolyn’s curiosity into an obsession, and she sought to find out why the letter writer, Marcel Heuze, had been in Berlin, how his letters came to be for sale in a store half-way around the world, and, most importantly, whether he returned to his beloved wife and daughters after the war. Marcel’s letters is the incredible story of Carolyn’s increasingly desperate search to find answers to the mystery of one man’s fate, answers that would come from Germany, France, and the United States simultaneously, she would continue to work on what would become the acclaimed P22 Marcel Script font, immortalizing the man and his letters that waited years to be reunited with his family.
My review: To say I cried during reading this would be a gross understatement; the tears poured!! Written in vivid narrative, this book reads more like a movie to me. In my mind’s eye, I could see Carolyn painstakingly crafting the letters, waiting for the FedEx with her deliveries and in the end, her meeting with the descendants of Marcel. This was a moving and powerful read. I especially enjoyed the details of the font design and the TypeCon descriptions. It got me thinking about all the hard work designers like Carolyn put in to create the fonts we use these days. This is an amazing read for anyone who enjoys history mixed with modern day typography and design.
My rating: 5 ⭐
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 