The Paris Bookseller

A number of books have been written about bookshops  and American author, Kerri Maher, has recently added to the collection by writing The Paris Bookseller, the story of Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier who both operated bookshops in Paris. When Sylvia first went to Paris she regularly visited Adrienne's bookshop which not only sold books but also operated as a lending library. In 1919 Sylvia opened her own bookshop and library, with Adrienne's support, but Shakespeare and Company would only sell books wrirtten in English.

It was not long before the regular clientel to the bookshop included English speaking authors who had settled in Paris permanently or for a short time. These authors included, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, T S Eliot and James Joyce.

When James Joyce's novel, Ulysses, was banned in the USA Sylvia decided to publish the work in Paris and then distribute the book to anyone who wanted to read it. Little did she realise what a difficult undertaking this would be as James Joyce could not be classed as an easy person to work with. However several editions of the work were successfully published before conditions regarding censorship in America relaxed slightly and ten years later an American publisher took over the publication of the book.

The Paris Bookseller is also about the relationship between Sylvia and Adrienne as well as the relationship between Sylvia and members of her family. Censorshp is also a theme of the novel showing the contrasts between the USA and France on issues such as censorship and prohibition of alcohol. The novel covers the period up to 1936. There is a section at the end of the novel where the author discusses the writing of the book. 

Many books and films describe the world of the artists in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. The Paris Bookseller provides the reader with an entrance to the world of writers in this city in the early twentieth century.

NB Ernest Hemingway wrote an account of his time in paris in the 1920s in A moveable feast.