Thread by @PersephoneBooks

Dear Persephone Reader, After 20 years in Bloomsbury, Persephone Books is on the move. To Bath! This was a very difficult decision for us. We love Bloomsbury intensely and are deeply loyal to it. But... (1/10)

... we had the option to renew the lease or to move and eventually, after much agonised to-ing and fro-ing, decided on the latter. The reason is this: (2/10)

Persephone, as you know, emerged from the underworld in the Spring, having been rescued by her mother Demeter (one of the reasons which made the name appropriate for us, since so many of our books are to do with families and domesticity). (3/10)

But after twenty Springs, we felt a slight restlessness. We felt a change would be energising. We felt we wanted to emerge somewhere different. (4/10)

Why Bath? Well, it is very much associated with Jane Austen, the ancestor/tress of every woman writer, but also with so many other writers who have stayed there over the centuries; it is still stunningly beautiful; (5/10)

... there are scores of interesting small businesses and creative people we shall be excited to have as neighbours; many Persephone readers live in Somerset and the neighbouring counties and might not have wanted to visit us in London but certainly do go to Bath; (6/10)

... two Persephone girls, Fran and Jess, already live there; finally, Bath was the birthplace of a couple of our very favourite things, the Bath Oliver biscuit and the Anglepoise lamp! (7/10)

We plan to open in mid-May though, because of the pandemic, do not expect to be back to normal until the Autumn. We hope that Persephone Books will quickly become part of the Bath landscape and we look forward to welcoming you to the new shop soon: 8 Edgar Buildings Bath BA1 2EE.

Finally, we want to reiterate that none of this would be possible without you, our readers. Of course we know that it is the brilliance of our authors that really makes things flow along. (9/10)

But it is our readers who buy their books and we hugely appreciate your support and send our warmest thanks. Very best wishes from all at Persephone Books. (10/10)