In reading Sylvia Beach’s own writing and scholarship concerning her life in Paris, one thing becomes evident: the Anglophone literary scene would not have found its footing without Beach and the presence of her bookstore.

Sylvia Beach’s entry into the Parisian literary circle began once her shop opened. Her niche was amongst the anglophone community, which she provided structure to with her bookstore, doubling as a publishing house. She recounts some of her early customers as having been Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, two writers who she was “joyful” over having in the shop (Shakespeare and Company 27). She gained further literary merit when she met James Joyce at a party, a writer whom she greatly admired. Joyce had been struggling to publish Ulysses, and Beach offered to be the one to publish it. With this act, her literary status was cemented. She regularly hosted Joyce and other writers such as Hemingway at the bookstore, collaborating with them on professional and personal levels.