A Bookshop of One’s Own: How a Group of Women Set Out to Change the World

In this heartbreaking yet hopeful debut, Cholmeley, cofounder of London’s legendary feminist bookshop Silver Moon, reflects on the store’s origins, cherished memories, crushing closure, and lasting impact. Alongside her partner in both life and business, Sue Butterworth, Cholmeley opened Silver Moon in 1984 with the dream of running “a feminist business in a capitalist world.” The shop, located on the city’s famed Booksellers’ Row, sold books by and about women until it was forced out of business in 2001 by a shifting political landscape and Amazon’s arrival in the U.K. Combining her own recollections with store newsletters, staff and customer testimonials, business records, and bestseller lists, Cholmeley offers a rich and varied perspective on the joys and pains of independent, mission-driven bookselling. Delightful stories of customer interactions, events with legendary authors like Maya Angelou and Gloria Steinem, and “ugly and smelly but gorgeous and much-loved shop dog extraordinaire” Biff are sure to entertain. Reflecting on Silver Moon’s contributions to late-20th-century feminist and queer movements, Cholmeley balances the literary and community-building highs with the devastating lows (anyone with a pipe dream of opening their own bookstore will be sobered by accounts of battles with landlords and violent behavior from customers). While occasionally bogged down in the minutiae of bookselling’s challenges and financials, this nostalgic, humorous narrative offers a rich slice of feminist and queer history. (June)