THE BOOK BENEATH THE BENCH

 

 Anthony Hopkins couldn’t find a single copy of a book anywhere in London. Then, exhausted, he sat down on a subway bench.

It was 1973. Hopkins had just landed a role in a film called The Girl from Petrovka, adapted from a novel by American journalist George Feifer. Like any serious actor, he wanted to read the original book to fully understand the story and his character.

He spent an entire day combing through the bookshops along London’s famous Charing Cross Road, a mecca for bibliophiles and literature lovers. But no matter where he looked, the book was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t available anywhere in the UK.

Frustrated, tired, and ready to give up, Hopkins headed into Leicester Square Underground station to catch a train home.

That’s when he noticed something unusual on one of the benches.

A book, left behind, abandoned.

He picked it up and turned it over.

“The Girl from Petrovka”.

The very book he had been searching for all day, left forgotten on a subway bench in a city of eight million people.

Hopkins couldn’t believe the coincidence.

He took the book home and started reading. As he flipped through the pages, he saw something extraordinary—the margins were filled with handwritten notes in red ink: detailed annotations, insights, and comments.

Someone had carefully marked up this entire book.

Hopkins didn’t think too much of it at the time. He used the notes to deepen his understanding of the character and story as he prepared for the role. The strange coincidence simply became one of those moments life hands you—curious but unexplained.

Months later, Hopkins travelled to Vienna, where filming was underway.

One day on set, he was introduced to a visitor.

George Feifer is the author of the book.

They discussed the film, the characters, and the story. Then Feifer said something that made Hopkins stop in his tracks.

“I don’t have a copy of my own book anymore,” Feifer confessed. “I lent my personal copy to a friend years ago. It had all my notes in the margins. And he lost it somewhere in London. I’ve never seen it since.”

Hopkins felt a chill run down his spine.

“I found a copy,” he said carefully. “On a bench in the Underground. It has handwritten notes throughout.”

Feifer stared at him, stunned.

Hopkins pulled the book from his bag and handed it over.

Feifer’s face went pale.

It was his copy. His handwriting. His annotations.

The very personal book he had lost years earlier—somehow left on a London subway bench at the exact moment Anthony Hopkins, the actor who needed it most, happened to sit beside it.

In a sprawling city of millions. Across thousands of streets. Among hundreds of tube stations.

The right book.

The right bench.

The right moment.

George Feifer got his lost book back.

Anthony Hopkins gained a story he would tell for the rest of his life.

Carl Jung called this kind of event synchronicity—the idea that meaningful coincidences aren’t random, but part of a deeper, invisible pattern woven into the fabric of reality.

Hopkins has always been fascinated by that idea. He’s talked about learning to just be amazed by life.

“I don’t know if there’s a master plan,” he once said, “but sometimes things happen that are just too perfect to explain.”

Maybe it was luck.

Maybe it was fate.

Maybe the universe was quietly smiling.

Or maybe, just maybe,

Some books are meant to find their readers.

And some stories are meant to be told.

===================================

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also received the Cecil B. DeMello Award in 2005 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2008. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 11 for his services to drama in 1993.

 Hopkins has had a prolific career with numerous memorable performances. Some of his notable films include:

The Lion in Winter (1968),  Hamlet (1969), The Elephant Man (1980), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Two Popes (2019 ).

In 2025, Hopkins published his autobiography, “We Did Ok, Kid.”