Simon over on Stuck in a Book has reminded us all that Persephone Books are ten years old this month and has written a celebratory post in honour of htis occasions, please do nip over and read it here. Ditto, Cornflower Books and, not wishing to be left out of a good party, I am now going to put my twopennorth in.
I discovered Persephone Books purely by chance. I used to take the Sunday Times and when, one Sunday ten years ago, I found my newsagent had run out, I bought a copy of The Observer instead. Got home, sat down and started to read and came across an article about a new publishing house which was going to republish books written by women in and between the two World Wars. About this time I had discovered EM Delafield and was eager to trace more by this author and others of that ilk and by another one of those coincidences that defy explanation, the week before discovering this article, I had read A Very Great Profession by one Nicola Beaumann and realised that there were so many books out there I wanted to read waiting to be discovered.
I called the number given in the article, found myself chatting to a very helpful lady who took my name and address, sent me Quarterly No 1 and asked me to suggest authors and titles I would like to see published. Sent off a huge list and it was not until a few weeks later that I realised the lady I had spoken to was Nicola herself and that this new house was being set up by the author of the book I had just read. See what I mean about coincidence?
And so I embarked on an adventure which has affected my reading now for ten years and has led me on to other authors I would never have sought out, read books I would never otherwise have looked at and am also delighted to be able to take some credit for the republication of The Making of a Marchioness which was one of my suggestions, ditto The Shuttle, both adult novels by the wonderful Frances Hodgson Burnett. I have discovered the wonderful writing of Dorothy Whipple, who I used to turn my nose up at when I worked in Highgate Library as a teenager and stigmatised them as 'old ladies books', I know better now, laughed myself silly at Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day which must surely be one of the most delightful books ever written, shivered with horror at The Victorian Chaise Longue, found myself in floods of tears at the end of Little Boy Lost, also wept at Fidelity and was enthralled by my most favourite Persephone of all, The Homemaker by Dorotyhy Canfield Fisher which I have read dozens of times.
Then of course we must not forget that each book comes with a wonderful bookmark which all adds to the pleasure of owning these simple elegant gray books.
Happy 10th birthday and do nip over to Simon's party, he has the cakes and the hats at the ready and all Persephone's readers look forward to the next ten years and more wonderful books.