Sylvia Beach, an American, and Adrienne Monnier, a French citizen, shared a lifelong romantic partnership, begun because of their mutual love of books. Adrienne initially had her own successful bookshop/lending library, and later she, along with Gertrude and Alice, assisted Sylvia in opening her own bookshop: Shakespeare and Company. Although French society, when compared to American culture, allowed for many more professional opportunities for women, it was still fairly unusual for two young women to venture into business ownership, especially in the  male dominated literary world. However, their bookshops "became a cultural centre of Europe, serving as a gathering place where writers from all over the world met." Hemingway was a frequent visitor, but it was James Joyce who captured Sylvia's artistic interest. She is solely responsible for the publication in full of Joyce's epic tome Ulysses. Sylvia and Adrienne's confidence and boldness--traits typically attributed to males during that time period--made them invaluable assets to the literary world, not just in France but worldwide.
(Weiss 26-59)

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