| Here’s more on the book from its publisher, Mudlark:
The captivating true story of an underdog business – a feminist bookshop founded in Thatcher’s Britain – from a woman at the heart of the women’s liberation movement.
Silver Moon was the dream of three women – a bookshop with the mission to promote the work of female writers and create a much-needed safe space for any woman. Founded in 1980s London against a backdrop of homophobia and misogyny, it was a testament to the power of community, growing into Europe’s biggest women’s bookshop and hosting a constellation of literary stars from Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou to Angela Carter.
While contending with day-to-day struggles common to other booksellers, plus the additional burdens of misogyny and the occasional hate crime, Jane Cholmeley and her booksellers created a thriving business. But they also played a crucial and relatively unsung part in one the biggest social movements of our time.
A Bookshop of One’s Own is a fascinating slice of social history from the heart of the women’s liberation movement, from a true feminist and lesbian icon. Written with heart and humour, it reveals the struggle and joy that comes with starting an underdog business, while being a celebration of the power women have to change the narrative when they are the ones holding the pen.
Reviews:
‘A vivid and wonderful evocation of the feminist bookshop on Charing Cross Road that was a home to so many of us. A story both of the shop itself and those inspiring women’s liberation movement campaigning days of the 1980s, it’s a slice of social history and a much-needed reminder of how women always have to fight for space – to get it, and to keep it. Bravo “Silver Moon”, you are much missed.’ Kate Mosse
‘[Jane] has always taken a back seat, but I think it’s time that younger women knew what a part she played in making the feminist movement, and also the role of women in society in general, a talking point… I can’t go down the Charing Cross Road now without a little feeling of regret for where the bookshop used to be.’ Jacqueline Wilson
‘Cholmeley is an energizing riot, full of humour and grit, and her story is well worth telling’ TLS
Jane Cholmeley
Jane Cholmeley’s 40-year career in the book trade began at Yale University Press, followed by Macdonald Educational, which was then acquired by Robert Maxwell. She refused to work for him and instead took an M.A. in Women’s Studies.
In 1984 she co-founded the legendary Silver Moon Women’s Bookshop which became the largest of its kind in Europe and a vibrant centre of women’s writing, hosting prestigious events with authors such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, and Sandi Toksvig. Toksvig nominated Jane as a Gay Icon in the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of that name in 2009.
Jane will be in conversation with Bristol-based publisher, writer and academic, D-M Withers.
Dr D-M Withers is a writer, academic and publisher living in Bristol. They are the founder of Bristol-based publisher, Lurid Editions which republishes relatively little-know ‘lurid writing from the 20th century and beyond.’ D-M’s book, Feminism, Digital Culture and the Politics of Transmission: Theory, Practice and Cultural Heritage won the Feminist and Women’s Studies Association 2016 book prize; their most recent book is, Virago Reprints and Modern Classics: The Timely Business of Feminist Publishing. They are a lecturer in publishing and Co-Director of the MA in Publishing programme at the University of Exeter. |
