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.