La Libraia che Salvò i Libri by Kerri Maher

 La Libraia che Salvò i Libri

by Kerri Maher is a new and suggestive novel published by Garzanti.

The story of Sylvia Beach the founder of Shakespeare & Co. is pretty detailed and includes a lot of informations on his private life. Sylvia lived in Princeton USA, when decided to move to Paris a city more tranquil and open. Here, with the sister will soon meet the companion of many decades of her existence: Adrienne Monnier, the owner of a famous parisien bookstore. Only after the departure of Adrienne's companion the two will start to live together. 

At the same time, Sylvia didn't want to return to the USA, but wanted to build an existence in Paris, opening where possible a bookstore for Americans, with english titles. There was in fact in Paris a large presence of Americans because of the prohibitionism. Most of them searched for a different freedom and a different atmosphere, more relaxed than not the American one.

It was thanks to her mother, if Sylvia opened her bookstore, concretizing a dream: Sylvia was a passionate of literature so kept many many books. She was, also, an estimators of James Joyce's books.

It was the meeting with Joyce that marked her professional existence: Sylvia didn't see the obscure side of this writer, and his egoism: Sylvia, just loved what he wrote, and if, today the Ulysses is considered an important book in the international panorama, it's just thanks to her.

Sylvia was devoted to Joyce, also when Joyce treated her coldly, distantly. I previously read and reviewed the letters sent to Sylvia by Joyce and he was extremely cold with her. I can't believe possible that that lady supported him so much.

To me it is still the extreme gesture of someone in love for a book, after all, more, maybe than the author himself. Joyce had eye's problems and Sylvia found a doctor for him: developed problem with some teeth and Sylvia was still there, listening to him.

The good luck of Joyce was that a lady in love again for literature sent him regularly wagons of money that then spent in the most expensive restaurants of the city where he was in for eating and drinking. The Joyces lived at long in Italy: they were pretty fluent with our language, although the wife of Joyce was uninterested on literature and what her husband was doing.

To Joyce the devotion of Sylvia Beach has meant everything: if Sylvia wouldn't have been loyal, the Ulysses wouln't never been published. A book this one that divided the intellectuals. When Sylvia, in fact offered to Joyce the possibility to publish the book with the imprint of Shakespeare & Co, Gertrude Stein didn't lose a moment and asked to be removed from the owners with a card, thinking that this idea was a bad one. In fact was a bad one, because, if at first the book was released, there is to say that more or less immediately in the USA someone tried to steal the work done by Sylvia, at the end...Winning. Joyce sent also a letter to Ezra Pound. He had to convince her that this book wasn't of her property, after all... Joyce has always considered Sylvia Beach a sort of secretary and nothing, nothing else.  

Sylvia suffered immensely although she remained affectionated to the idea of James Joyce and his books, deciding, after all to set free this book, that later was published by Random House, for the joy of James Joyce who became incredibly rich and would have spent many more time in exclusive restaurants, drinking and eating: for sure, when Sylvia asked for financial help he didn't help her, this immense little woman who changed his destiny.

If you notice a polemic touch, it is real. 

Another character met by Sylvia Beach, completely different from Joyce was Ernest Hemingway, in Paris to search for some success: he was a journalist, Sylvia helped him in every possible way but same did the beloved writer pretty social and in Paris with Hadley his first wife: he brought them to see boxings, and helped Sylvia with the purpose to introduce in the USA the Ulysses.

Life slowly slowly changed in Paris as well. Ernest left Hadley for Pfeiffer, other people changed a lot their existence, and the magic atmosphere built during the 1920s soon evaporated, with the dreams, most of them realized, of these protagonists.

Where possible Sylvia needed to cope with the depression of her mother, unexpected: her mother tried to open a store in California, leaving the husband, and helped by Sylvia's sisters, but ended up killing herself, a story this one that marked the existence of Sylvia. Privately Sylvia started to suffer of migraines, and once, when she was somewhere else, her beloved companion of a life, Adrienne started a new affair with someone else. Although the two ladies still were in contact, it is not known if they re-started a love-affair. Anyway, Adrienne killed herslef as well and this one was a new trauma for Sylvia.

Sylvia, during the war spent some time in a french camp, never re-opening after the war the bookstore, 

Shakespeare & Co. anyway resuscitated thanks to the genial idea of Walt Whitman in the 1950s, a communist bostonian in Paris, who realized his biggest dream: a sort of a commune, utopistic world in a bookstore, living of culture, few food and keeping the outside world as distant as possible. Sylvia was not just enthusiastic of this project, but accepted also to call this bookstore Shakespeare&Co. when Whitman asked for the permission. Whiteman created a café close to the bookstore, a dream that Sylvia hadn't realized yet, where to share informations, speaking of literature while eating, and drinking something good.

He also called his daughter, the current owner of Shakespeare & Co. Sylvia.

I personally prefer the english titol: The Paris Bookseller, because yes, Sylvia "saved" a book, theoretically from the obscurantism but story has been much much more complicated.

The cover is beautiful!

Highly recommended book.

Anna Maria Polidori