A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley -The story of the Silver Moon feminist bookshop

A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley

This book is subtitled “How a Group of Women Set out to Change the World”, and it is a fair description in that opening a bookshop of this kind at the time was quite the challenge. The Silver Moon Bookshop was going to be something different, a champion of women writers and feminist literature in London’s Charing Cross Road, at the traditional heart of bookselling. They also wanted to give space to texts attractive to many: black women writers, lesbian titles and books sympathetic to the fledging gay movements generally. A safe space for women in the form of a café and gallery, and information board for anyone. While it sounded straightforward, this was back in 1984, when the prevailing political atmosphere was anti- gay, and systems were against them. While many books, both fictional and non-fictional, deal with the establishment of a bookshop and the problems of maintaining profitability, this is the story of real problems and barriers which had to be overcome which threatened the existence of such a enterprise.

This is a book about the women, especially Jane herself, who tried to work with the GLC and its successors and landlords, the logistics of establishing the shop in a difficult premises and dealing with the intricacies of publishers and stocking books of a specialist nature. There are also triumphs in this well written and painfully honest book; the promotion of authors, the provision of a special space for women book buyers and the discreet mail order business which linked people around the nations before the internet. This is a book which links the struggles of the Women’s Liberation Movement in all its variations, the need for fairness and good working practices, and the strength needed to keep going when so many people and organisations were discouraging. It is a personal record of a special time, and the determined people who really did try to change the world.

This book is very strong on the origins of a bookshop like no other. When Jane and Sue, her then partner, came up with the idea of a feminist bookshop they soon realised that a lot would depend on its exact location in London. They took special care to avoid being too close to anywhere that may currently or may in the near future overlap their aims, including the feminist publisher Virago. A location on the Charing Cross Road seemed ideal; while the shop was currently pretty derelict, the GLC were willing to subsidise the lease on the basis of encouraging independent booksellers. Despite the support of family and friends grants still had to be applied for and spent wisely. Compromises in terms of the shop and eventually the café had to be made, but there were other later developments that eased the pressure on space. Alongside these challenges there were remarkable triumphs; and an impressive list of authors who supported the shop with appearances, readings and encouragement is included.

As an account of a bookshop and the people involved this is a somewhat varied account as the author strives to prove with lists, menus, financial extracts and letters some of the day-to-day activities which contributed to this unique bookshop. It is a personal account, written with sometimes brutal honesty and humour, always reflecting the deep feelings that the author and her co workers felt about the venture. Apparently, the Silver Moon was highly regarded as a unique bookshop, achieved much and broke ground in terms of a specialist venue for groups previously disregarded. This moving, honest and well written book tells the story and is a fascinating addition to the selection of books about the joys and challenges of bookselling.