The Paris Bookseller

One of the strongest guiding threads in the novel is Sylvia and Joyce’s ongoing battle against the censorship and oppression that oppose the publication of Ulysses. Even though the focus is on this one particular text, the battle to publish Ulysses also represents a larger problem in the wider world, where nontraditional ideas and identities are consistently silenced. Kerri Maher uses this historical issue to implicitly critique the nature of similar controversy that dominates modern-day social and political arenas. Within the context of the novel, however, Sylvia herself acknowledges that Joyce’s work might not be for everyone but still wholeheartedly believes that his work should be allowed to speak for itself. Thus, her crusade to bring the novel to light symbolizes the larger belief that people should be given the choice of how to interact with art rather than having that choice made for them. This lack of trust is truly at the heart of the censorship issues presented in the novel, for Maher’s story emphasizes the fact that people in power do not trust readers to determine their own values.

The issue of Freedom Versus Censorship is heightened even more powerfully by the gender dynamics that are also at play, for Sylvia, Margaret, and Jane command less intellectual trust than their male counterparts.