The Paris Bookseller: A sweeping story of love, friendship and betrayal in bohemian 1920s Paris

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This was a fun historical fiction for me. At first, while real life American Sylvia Beach was unmoored and not knowing what she really wanted to do with her life, I had trouble getting into the story. But once Sylvia opens her own Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, in 1919, I was captivated by the writers and other creative people who made her store a meeting place. I googled most of the famous names and some I had never heard up, not because I needed more information to enjoy the story but because the story made me interested in the people. Sylvia calls her shop Shakespeare and Company. Discuss the second part of that name, and Company, and the way it arises as a theme throughout the book. This was a fun book for book lovers. Many famous authors made appearances in the midst of a great story line. The heroine of the story was a strong woman with lofty goals during a time when women weren't looked upon as successful entrepreneurs. There were surprises throughout the book which kept my interest while reading. It was well written and the descriptions made you feel like you were there. I highly recommend this book for all types of readers. What seems like another lifetime ago, I was a professor of writing, and the founder of the award-winning literary journal YARN. I also have an MFA from Columbia University. What was telling was how Slyvia's life changed forever for having dared publish such a narrative. Risking ruin, reputation and her business.

The Paris _______ (106 books) - Goodreads The Paris _______ (106 books) - Goodreads

I was half way through this book before I realized it is essentially an accurate and lengthy biography of Sylvia Beach and her English language bookshop. Beach and her Paris shop, “Shakespeare and Company”, hosted many of the writers and thinkers of the early half of the 20th century. She came to fame with her publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses when no one else would publish it. In fact, America had declared it pornography and prevented it from being published or sold in the US. The novel also covers her relationship with Adrienne Monnier and Monnier’s French language bookshop. Both women were sponsors of American, French and British writers. A beautiful ode to Sylvia Beach, the renowned Shakespeare and Company owner, a real-life heroine who has left her mark on us all.”I was just thinking how interpretation of literature by other authors, as well as in film, can render the original story almost unrecognizable, minimize or replace the historical context, and totally redefine the original intent of a story, or even misrepresent the original context. Does one writer really have the right to rewrite or alter another writer's work and claim freedom of expression, or even claim the right to freedom of interpretation? The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother. If you ever dreamed you could transport yourself to Paris in the twenties, to Sylvia Beach’s famous bookstore where Joyce, Hemingway, and Pound wandered the aisles, this story’s for you. Maher’s magical touch brings to life a woman whose struggles resonate in today’s world, while also examining the intricacies of friendship, fortitude, and the love of the written word.”

Summary and reviews of The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

United States v. One Book Called Ulysses was a 1933 case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dealing with free speech. At issue was whether James Joyce's novel was obscene. In deciding it was not, Judge John M. Woolsey opened the door to importation and publication of serious works of literature, even when they used coarse language or involved sexual subjects. The decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,on August 08, 1934, but it is Judge Woolsey's trial court opinion which is now often cited as an erudite and discerning affirmation of literary free speech. Could she ever write so bravely, knowing her minister father, whom she loved dearly, would read every word? It was one thing for him to quietly accept her spinsterhood, and perhaps even her discreet sapphism—for he'd never encouraged her to marry and he'd never questioned the friendships she'd had with women, which after all had run the gamut between entirely platonic and, rarely, heart-wrenchingly intimate—but it would be quite another thing for her to write about her desires with the kind of honesty she admired in the new writing she was starting to see in the more progressive journals. 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.It’s always adolescent boys and little girls, though,” Cyprian would complain after signing another napkin or cardboard coaster. “Where are the ducs and other admirers of means?” This novel is full of real-life strong women making history. Were any of their actions surprising to you, given the time period? Do you think there was something special about Paris at this particular time that made their actions possible?

The Paris Bookseller | TripFiction The Paris Bookseller | TripFiction

The woman clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Les États-Unis! The home of Benjamin Franklin! But he is my favorite! I am Adrienne Monnier." Sylvia risks her finances, her store, and her reputation to publish Ulysses because it’s a book and a cause she believes in. Have you ever taken an enormous risk for something you believed in?Wholly immersive, a literary romp through Left Bank Paris…an enchanting glimpse of the storied lost generation through a female gaze.” A mi me interesó la historia porque hablaba de cómo se fundó la mítica librería parisina Shakespeare and Company, la cual he visto que es un lugar con mucho atractivo turístico. Lo que no sabía era de la mujer detrás de este local, Sylvia Beach. Ella fue una estadounidense que al llegar a vivir a París se deslumbró con una librería llamada “La Maison des Amis des Livres” fundada por Adrienne Monnier. Sylvia estaba encantada con la vida literaria de este lugar y soñaba con abrir una franquicia de la librería francesa en su país; pero por cuestiones económicas terminó abriendo su local también en París, pero para especializarse en vender libros escritos por estadounidenses y se concentró también en buscar autores que estuvieran promoviendo una literatura más moderna y compleja. It was a really beautiful romance between Sylvia and Adrienne Monier (another ground-breaking single female bookshop owner, this time French), who were drawn to each other through their love for books and literature, and their beliefs that women capable of so much more than the traditional roles of wife, mother, servant …They both believed that people should be free to love whom they choose, and write what and how they will. Censorship was rife in the USA at the time (hence the banning of ‘Ulysses’), prohibition was in full swing, and homosexuality illegal, whereas France was much more liberal on all counts. So, no wonder Sylvia – and many fellow Americans – were drawn to an exuberant Paris that sparkled with culture old and new. That Paris was also inexpensive at the time, added to the appeal. Coincidentally, I finished reading this on February 2nd, 100 years after Sylvia Beach’s publication of Ulysses in Paris on February 2, 1922! A story about Paris and bookshops was bound to find a place in my heart but this one has the pièce de résistance: the character of Sylvia Beach. I was completely enthralled by Beach’s life and her tenacity in founding the first English-language bookshop in Paris, while also publishing James Joyce’s epic but controversial Ulysses. With an abundance of delightful cameos from all of your favourite literary heroes as well as a fascinating rendering of Paris’s glory days during the 1920s and 30s, this novel will transport you as only the best historical fiction can.”

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher | Waterstones

With an abundance of historical facts and with renowned authors like Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia’s bookstore becomes the epicentre of literature and a meeting place for these celebrated authors which lends a touch of magic to the story. In fact it is the story. Intelligent, fierce and filled with reverence for a fascinating epoch in literary history… a delight for readers and writers”American woman Sylvia Beach who lives in Paris dares to open an American book selling company in Paris. It was named Shakespeare and Company. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.