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

Foyles Foyles, a trading name of Waterstones Booksellers Limited (formerly W & G Foyle Ltd.), 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 ...

bookshop.

Early life

Miss Foyle (as she liked to be called) was born in London, the daughter of William Foyle, a leading bookseller, owner of Foyles, on the

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street), which then merges into Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direc ...

in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...

. 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 A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

, 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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 journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, Shaw,

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

, and other writers while they were buying books, and thinking that others might enjoy such a chance. It also followed on from the literary lectures, without food or drink, started by her father, which were less successful. On one occasion, Foyle recommended ''

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 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle th ...

'' 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 John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

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, formerly the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. Across from Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, the hotel is built on the former site of the 19th ...

, 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 philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

) spoke in praise of a book, as well as the author. In May 1936, the

Left Book Club The Left Book Club is a publishing group that exerted a strong left-wing influence in Great Britain, during its initial run, from 1936 to 1948. It was relaunched in 2015 by Jan Woolf and Neil Faulkner, in collaboration with Pluto Press. Pionee ...

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 The Right Book Club was an English book club founded in 1937 by Christina and William Foyle to counter the influential Left Book Club, established in 1936 by Victor Gollancz. Origins and character In May 1936, the Left Book Club had been esta ...

was launched at a luncheon at the Grosvenor House Hotel in April 1937, with Lord Stonehaven, 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 Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

, 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 and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

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 publis ...

'', 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 ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

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

"''. 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 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, responding to her complaint about

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

book-burning. 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 crit ...

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

, J. B. Priestley,

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

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 ''Decli ...

and

The Foyle Foundation

The Foyle Foundation was founded in 2001 under the terms of Christina Foyle's will. It makes grants to other UK charities, mainly in the fields of the arts and learning (until 2009, also health). The 2010 accounts showed funds of over £76 million. Among other grants it made a large donation to the appeal to purchase the oldest intact European book, the

St Cuthbert Gospel The St Cuthbert Gospel, also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel or the St Cuthbert Gospel of St John, is an early 8th-century pocket gospel book, written in Latin. Its finely decorated leather binding is the earliest known Western bookbinding to s ...

, for the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

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 '' Alex Rider'' series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spi ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 11 June 1999
Obituary
''

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