Thank you so much @oxunipressbookshop for gifting me this fascinating history of @viragopress to review! Initially I was sceptical - if it’s not a memoir, I’m usually scared of nonfiction, but I thought I’d give it a go and it paid off! I flew through this one, part memoir, part history of Virago, but definitely more history of the company. If you’re at all interested in the publishing industry, you’ll want to add this one to your list!

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There are so many interesting parts to highlight in this book, starting from the very beginning when they started a publishing house to publish women in the 70s, growing in the 80s when feminism was lightyears from where it is today. As they started to grow, they drew because of the contrast between being a feminist press and still needing to turn a profit to stay afloat and relevant. What’s better, being an independent or being able to continue to publish great works by forgotten women?

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Goodings doesn’t shy away from or deny the mistakes they made too. She doesn’t gloss over the sticky bits. From rifts between directors to criticism for being too white-centric in the 80s, she acknowledges it all and shares how they took it as an opportunity to learn, grow and improve, listening to authors of colour when they told them how they needed to change and implementing those changes. But although publishing has come a long way, there’s a long way to go, and it seems Virago are willing to do the work, in publishing and employment.

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My very favourite parts were when Lennie tells us all about her time spent with two of the great stalwarts of literature: Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou. I could not imagine having to tell Atwood I didn’t like something about her novel!! But they seem like such incredible, inspiring women, always pushing others to be the best they can be. Some of the anecdotes about other, unnamed, authors who were not so affectionate and generous with their editors also made me chuckle!

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A must read if you’re a fan of Virago or are just interested in the publishing industry in general!