{
  "type": "book",
  "site": {
    "name": "The Book Quiver",
    "language": "en-US",
    "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "title": "Dear Mr Bigelow",
  "subtitle": null,
  "slug": "dear-mr-bigelow",
  "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow",
  "json": "https://www.bookquiver.com/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.bookquiver.com/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow.md",
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Frances Woodsford",
      "slug": "frances-woodsford",
      "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com/frances-woodsford"
    }
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  "language": "en_GB",
  "original_title": null,
  "original_language": null,
  "first_published": "2010-11-25",
  "genres": [
    {
      "code": "DNBH",
      "heading": "Biography: historical, political and military"
    },
    {
      "code": "DND",
      "heading": "Published diaries, letters and journals"
    },
    {
      "code": "DNL",
      "heading": "Essays"
    },
    {
      "code": "JB",
      "heading": "Society and culture: general"
    },
    {
      "code": "NHB",
      "heading": "General and world history"
    },
    {
      "code": "NHW",
      "heading": "Military history"
    }
  ],
  "series": [],
  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/vintage-digital/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow_978-14-4643-522-9-d945e139.webp?v=2026-10-08%2003%3A13%3A09",
  "description": "Dear Mr Bigelow is an enchanting selection of weekly 'pen-pal' letters written between 1949 and 1961 from an unmarried woman working at the Pier Approach Baths in Bournemouth, to a wealthy American widower, living on Long Island, New York. Frances Woodsford and Commodore Paul Bigelow never met, and there was no romance - she was in her forties when he died aged ninety-seven - yet their epistolary friendship was her lifeline. The 'Saturday Specials' as Frances dubbed them, are brilliantly-packed missives, sparked with comic genius, from post-war England. We follow her travails at the Baths (and her ghastly boss Mr Bond); the hilarious weekly Civil Defence classes as the Cold War advances; her attempts to shake off Dr Russell, an unwanted suitor; life at home with Mother, and Mac, her charming ne'er-do-well brother; and escapades in their jointly-owned car, a 1934 Ford 8 called Hesperus. Most importantly, we get to know Frances - and her deep affection for Mr Bigelow. She started to write to him as a way of thanking his daughter for the clothes and food parcels she sent. But what had begun as a good turn offered Frances the chance to escape a trying job, and to expound with elegance, wit and verve on topical subjects from home and abroad, bringing us a beady commentary on her life and times that leaps vividly from the page. Her letters to Mr Bigelow during his final illness are a tender and moving farewell, a touching conclusion to a unique record.",
  "editions": [
    {
      "title": "Dear Mr Bigelow",
      "subtitle": null,
      "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow/9781446435229",
      "publisher": "vintage_digital",
      "translators": [],
      "medium": "audio",
      "duration_seconds": 46680,
      "narrators": [
        "Patience Tomlinson"
      ],
      "isbn": "978-14-4643-522-9",
      "pages": null,
      "published": "2010-11-25",
      "language": "en_GB",
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/vintage-digital/frances-woodsford/dear-mr-bigelow_978-14-4643-522-9-d945e139.webp?v=2026-10-08%2003%3A13%3A09"
    }
  ],
  "other_languages": [],
  "characters": [],
  "chapters": []
}