Persephone Books publishes rediscovered
fiction and non-fiction by women, for women and about
women: realistic not idealistic, everyday not outrageous,
sympathetic not alienating, domestic not angry. Their
titles fill the middle ground between the literary
on the one hand and the commercial on the other.
A distinguishing feature of Persephone’s paperbacks
is that they have a uniform look on the outside, with
plain grey jackets and cream ‘labels’ for
the title wording, but inside full-colour endpapers
reproduce fabrics chosen to match the date and mood
of the book.
The company was founded by Nicola Beauman, the author
of, among other books, A Very Great Profession: The
Woman’s Novel 1914-39, now a Virago Modern Classic.
Biddles responded positively
to our idea of having endpapers on paperback
books, something which has never been done before,
and since our first three books were printed
four years ago we have continued to have an excellent
working relationship. I know many members of
the team, and find them consistently efficient and
friendly. Most important of all, they care about
every last detail, from the endpapers to the
beautiful Munken paper they source for us, to
the binding.”
