The Paris Bookseller

Kerri Maher

Jan 2022 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

“A love letter to bookstores and libraries.”
—The Boston Globe

The dramatic story of how a humble bookseller fought against incredible odds to bring one of the most important books of the 20th century to the world in this new novel from the author of The Girl in White Gloves.

A PopSugar Much-Anticipated 2022 Novel ∙ A BookTrib Top Ten Historical Fiction Book of Spring ∙ A SheReads’ Best Literary Historical Fiction Coming in 2022 ∙ A Reader’s Digest’s Best Books for Women Written by Female Authors ∙ A BookBub Best Historical Fiction Book of 2022
 
When bookish young American Sylvia Beach opens Shakespeare and Company on a quiet street in Paris in 1919, she has no idea that she and her new bookstore will change the course of literature itself.
 
Shakespeare and Company is more than a bookstore and lending library: Many of the prominent writers of the Lost Generation, like Ernest Hemingway, consider it a second home. It's where some of the most important literary friendships of the twentieth century are forged—none more so than the one between Irish writer James Joyce and Sylvia herself. When Joyce's controversial novel Ulysses is banned, Beach takes a massive risk and publishes it under the auspices of Shakespeare and Company.
 
But the success and notoriety of publishing the most infamous and influential book of the century comes with steep costs. The future of her beloved store itself is threatened when Ulysses' success brings other publishers to woo Joyce away. Her most cherished relationships are put to the test as Paris is plunged deeper into the Depression and many expatriate friends return to America. As she faces painful personal and financial crises, Sylvia—a woman who has made it her mission to honor the life-changing impact of books—must decide what Shakespeare and Company truly means to her.

Ratings and reviews

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher is an absorbing biographical novel that tells the story of Sylvia Beach and her iconic Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. Settling in Paris after the end of WWI, Sylvia is at a loss as to what to do with her life. She then befriends Parisian bookstore owner Adrienne Monnier who introduces her into a society consisting of the great literati of the time. Sylvia also discovers that Paris is a haven for those who prefer same sex relationships which have become illegal in other places. She soon decides to open an English bookstore and lending library catering to the many expats and tourists flocking to the city of lights. Before long her business is thriving and her relationship with Adrienne has developed into a deep love affair. Shakespeare and Company becomes the meeting place for many of the soon to be famous writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Sylvia’s most important client is James Joyce, whose new book, Ulysses, having been banned in other countries; Joyce has not been able to find a publisher. Sylvia decides to champion this momentous novel and its author by publishing it herself despite never having ventured into the field before. Joyce proves to be a recalcitrant client, making changes to his tome even while it is at the publishers; arguing about profit percentages. Sylvia’s work with Joyce is almost her undoing, financially and emotionally; possibly ending the fragile friendship between herself and Joyce. This wonderful work of fiction is well-researched with a powerful sense of time and place. The Paris of the 1920’s and 30’s comes alive in the author’s skillful hands taking the reader back to Sylvia’s Shakespeare and Company, sitting beside the great writers of the time. I highly recommend this novel to fans of historical fiction, biographical fiction, and the expat world of Paris between the wars. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

About the author

KERRI MAHER is the national bestselling author of The Girl in White Gloves, The Kennedy Debutante, and, under the name Kerri Majors, This Is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives with her daughter and dog in a leafy suburb west of Boston, Massachusetts.