Summary

In Chapter 1, Sylvia Beach returned to Paris to live in the city for the first time since her childhood. She visited a bookstore, Madame Monnier’s, and started a conversation with the proprietress, Adrienne. Sylvia felt that “something was passing between them, and it was more than just books” but she was dismayed when Adrienne’s lover, and business partner, Suzanne Bonnierre, entered the shop (7). Despite her romantic intrigue having been dampened, Sylvia accepted their invitation to attend a reading at the shop later that evening. The protagonist mused on her own fizzled attempt to write but she was elated to find she fit easily into the conversations between the authors at the event.

Sylvia continued to visit the bookstore in Chapter 2 and spent more time with Adrienne and Suzanne. One day, Sylvia and Adrienne visited the d’Orsay together to see...