Paris, 1919. Young, bookish Sylvia Beach knows there is no greater city in the world than Paris. But when she opens an English-language bookshop on the bohemian Left Bank, Sylvia can’t yet know she is making history.
Many leading writers of the day, from Ernest Hemingway to Gertrude Stein, consider Shakespeare and Company a second home. Here some of the most profound literary friendships blossom – and none more so than between James Joyce and Sylvia herself.
When Joyce’s controversial novel Ulysses is banned, Sylvia determines to publish it through Shakespeare and Company. But the success and notoriety of publishing the most infamous book of the century comes at deep personal cost as Sylvia risks ruin, reputation and her heart in the name of the life-changing power of books…
For those of you who haven’t heard of the legendary Shakespeare and Company, it was an English-language bookstore in Paris, founded by American Sylvia Beach in 1919. Beach’s store became a gathering place for some of the great ex-pat writers of the time, including the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and Sylvia’s favourite writer, James Joyce. Sounds like heaven, right?
Kerri Maher’s The Paris Bookseller is a captivating piece of historical fiction that shines a light on this tenacious woman who was instrumental in changing the course of modern literature by publishing Joyce’s controversial masterpiece, Ulysses. Whether you’re a Joyce fan or not, it was fascinating to learn about the challenges behind this book’s publication, which would later be regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.
The Paris that Maher conjures up in The Paris Bookseller sounds like something out of a dream – a liberal, free-thinking bohemian centre filled with cobblestoned streets, cosy cafes, and a vibrant literary scene. The iconic Shakespeare and Company sits at the centre of all this. It’s a magical place that attracted famous writers who would casually stroll into Beach’s store, peruse the shelves, argue amongst themselves and champion each other’s work. Indeed, reading this book made me feel like I was taking a holiday in France and spending it in the company of my favourite writers.
Vividly imagined and splendidly told, The Paris Bookseller is both a love letter to bookshops and a celebration of these literary giants. It is also a tribute to Sylvia Beach herself, a remarkable woman who helped usher in a new age of modernist literature.
Leave a Reply