The Elsie Drake Letters

by Robert Popper, Elsie Drake

Friday Night Dinner and Timewaster Letters creator Robert Popper's new book of brilliantly funny letters, from Britain's oldest letter writer.

'I laughed till I cried' DAISY MAY COOPER'
'Robert Popper is not only certifiably one of the Funniest People in the World™, but also the loveliest 104-year-old woman you could ever hope to meet. Hilarious' 'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC
'I howled with laughter' MATT LUCAS

At 104 years of age, Mrs Elsie Drake of Granville Gardens, London, is the sixth oldest woman in Britain. But fed up with sitting in her armchair all day, Elsie is ready for new adventures. And so, armed with a computer she can barely operate, she fires off dozens of letters to everyone from the Prime Minister to Greggs Bakeries, to see if they can help.

Whether offering her services as the new Arsenal football mascot dressed as a giant hare, or simply sending Sainsbury's a load of meat, no one can escape the clutches of Elsie Drake.

Gloriously funny and ridiculously silly, The Elsie Drake Letters is also a testament to the wonderful kindness and good humour of the British public. Just wait till you read the replies...

'One of Britain's great comedy minds is at it again' AISLING BEA
'A treasure trove of funny. I loved it' BOB ODENKIRK
'Sweetness, surrealism and hilarity. . . Sheer letter-writing brilliance' PATTON OSWALT

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Comedy

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2024

Reviews

[Lynne Aubrey]

I laughed so much throughout this book.
The eccentric and fabulous Elsie trying to use a "computor"to write her letters which are just so funny and at times ludicrous, but the replies are absolutely fantastic.
Just what you need to brighten up a miserable January!!

[Nancy Harley]

Just weird, and I like weird, so thumbs up from me.

[Sallie]

How he came up with so many inventive and hilarious requests for Elsie to send I will never know! The drawings are an added bonus and very funny. A really easy and quick read and one you can dip in and out of if you're time poor. Loved it!

[Elliot Mason]

Silly, funny + daft in equal measures, top notch ✌️

[Rosalind Bryden]

What a find! I loved this book.

I really want Elsie Drake to be a real character. Her letters are so cleverly written. While they are full of rather implausible requests (such as to try out a stay in a prison) they are all just plausible enough to sound as though they might be real.

What struck me most was the absolute kindness of all the people who responded to her letters. Despite Elsie's ludicrous replies, the correspondence with some companies extends over several letters. It just gave me such faith in the goodness of people who wished to try and help Elsie as much as they could - explaining the ins and outs of training to swim the English Channel or offering a visit to Stansted Airport to make the announcements...

It left me feeling so grateful for all the people out there who believed in a 104-year old lady and her pet hedgehog and did what they could to help her.

[Diane]

I hadn't read any of Robert Popper's work before this book. I found it to be pretty funny - hilarious in places as described by others. Elsie is a real character, full of ambition and loyalty to her late husband, but not such a good relationship with her housemate Mrs Hayles. I could go further into things I noticed within her story, but this is very much overthinking and not within the spirit of the book. There are some wonderful responses from the companies whom Elsie writes to, and this restored my faith in corporate Britain to some degree. There really are some kind businesses out there in the most surprising places, actually! A very elderly lady who has certainly had some adventures but still has a lust for life and wants more!

[Katy]

The Elsie Drake Letters
⭐️⭐️⭐️

A bit of an odd read for me.... for some reason I thought it would be in the format of a story about Elsie and her letter writing, however it was nothing that.

This book is set out in letter formats where you see the initial letter that Elsie has written then the replys from the people she has written to.

It's a funny read for sure and enjoyable and an easy read to get through.

It also certainly teaches you alot about humanity, kindness and people.

[Nic]

I didn't realise when I first picked this book up that it consisted of real correspondence (until I read the dust jacket). A quick read and funny in places, it did leave me feeling a bit uncomfortable at times. The kindness of strangers was remarkable in many of these letters so, personally, the discomfort came from the deceit and wasted time of some very generous people. I assume they took it well and agreed to inclusion in the book though.

[Stephen Cottingham]

I enjoyed this book of letters from 104-year-old Elsie Drake (aka Robert Popper). It is very amusing, including dear old Elsie's grappling with writing her letters on a computer, with many "mistakes" similar to those I used to make when first using a computer - and I am about 40 years younger than Elsie!

[James Cooke]

Although not quite as hilarious as The Timewaster Letters, it has plenty of amusing moments and has some inventive institutions to poke at. Interesting to see which of them have a sense of humour, those that don’t and those who utterly embrace the marketing opportunity of having being written to by a 104 year old woman.

[Mrs Deborah]

I laughed until I cried listening to this playful book, narrated by the author. However I haven't given it 5 stars because it made me feel slightly uncomfortable and sad that many of the companies she wrote to (pranked) acted with such kindness. Still, we all loved the antics of Elsie and Mrs Hale. Who is Mrs Hale?!

[Alastair Hill]

I really liked the idea when I heard about it, and I was ready to really enjoy it. But unfortunately it very quickly feels quite shallow, some of the interactions are entertaining and funny, others are just polite letters from customer service representatives trying to be kind to someone.

It just feels like it's a funny idea taken way beyond its worth.

[Alice Ashton]

Short and sweet. Picked this up after listening to the author promoting it on a podcast. He was hilarious and this book was equally funny. The responses to the letters were actually quite heart warming at times!

[Jenny Dawe]

Robert Popper continues to be hilarious :).

[Lisa O'Hare]

Joyfully silly

[joadie toadie]

Hilarious worth a read if you want something light and fun!

[Suzanne Bhargava]

Very funny. Robert Popper is a ding dong.

[Millie Smith-Clare]

so pleased i discovered this after listening to robert popper’s episodes on off menu and weirdo’s book club

[Cheryl Briggs]

Nice quick read. Some of these letters were laugh out loud funny 😁

[Jess]

There were parts of this that were funny but I found it very repetitive. I did enjoy the responses some people sent 'Elsie', they were more amusing than her letters in many cases!

[Jessica]

Amusing little book, quick read, do not have to read all un one go, ideal for a coffee table book

[Owain Lloyd-williams]

Genuine laugh out loud stuff

[Abbie]

Fun concept but a bit repetitive

[Emma Brennan]

Lovely light hearted book, was a joy to read. Excited to read the rest of Robert's book, although, won't be the same without Elsie and Mrs Hale!

[Sue Stone]

I got really bored with this book and actually stopped reading it halfway through.

[Clive Bevitt]

Very Robert Popper, very funny.

[Elsie Berry]

A recommendation from my mum. Maybe expected it to be a bit funnier? I didn't really laugh out loud but it was still quite funny.

[Joy Burn]

I enjoyed the different situations the writer invented, very funny . I listened to it but Elsie’s voice jarred a bit. I wonder if it was the same £5 note - a much travelled £5 note if so!

[Lynne Dixon]

This was just a bit of light relief, a welcome change from some of the books I've read lately.

[Vicki Robinson]

I love Elsie Drake! I found myself listening to the book and giggling and giggling.
And Mrs Hale is a beast!
I hope Robert Popper writes more of these kinds of books. This was hilarious.