THE SHOW WOMAN: A beautifully evoked historical novel about the first all female circus act
Emma Cowing
May 2025 · Hodder & Stoughton · Narrated by Samara MacLaren
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About this audiobook
'A very special debut' JENNY COLGAN
'Suspenseful, authentic, sexy and uplifting. Beautiful writing plunges the reader into the showgrounds of Edwardian Scotland, sights, sounds, smells and all' ERIN KELLY
THE SHOW MUST GO ON ...
1910. With the disappearance of her mother and the sudden death of her father, Lena instantly loses any security she has within the circus she has known all her life. She is advised to sell the carousel her father cared for like a child and look for a husband, or a job in a factory.
Until flame-haired Violet, known to all in the fairgrounds as 'the greatest trapeze artist that ever lived', suggests they go it alone with their own, all-female act. With her outspoken ways and her refusal to marry, Violet is as much an outcast as Lena. What do they have to lose? Recruiting new performers including bareback horse-rider Rosie, on the run from her abusive father, and Carmen whose rainbow ribbons hide the darkness in her past, the four women form an unbreakable bond.
Thrust into a harsh and dangerous world that treats them with suspicion, disdain and even violence, they must forge their own path in search of freedom, security, and love.
Deeply rooted in the Edwardian era, THE SHOW WOMAN is brilliantly realised and expertly interlaces strong female characters, deeply-woven family secrets and heartfelt love stories.
'Suspenseful, authentic, sexy and uplifting. Beautiful writing plunges the reader into the showgrounds of Edwardian Scotland, sights, sounds, smells and all' ERIN KELLY
THE SHOW MUST GO ON ...
1910. With the disappearance of her mother and the sudden death of her father, Lena instantly loses any security she has within the circus she has known all her life. She is advised to sell the carousel her father cared for like a child and look for a husband, or a job in a factory.
Until flame-haired Violet, known to all in the fairgrounds as 'the greatest trapeze artist that ever lived', suggests they go it alone with their own, all-female act. With her outspoken ways and her refusal to marry, Violet is as much an outcast as Lena. What do they have to lose? Recruiting new performers including bareback horse-rider Rosie, on the run from her abusive father, and Carmen whose rainbow ribbons hide the darkness in her past, the four women form an unbreakable bond.
Thrust into a harsh and dangerous world that treats them with suspicion, disdain and even violence, they must forge their own path in search of freedom, security, and love.
Deeply rooted in the Edwardian era, THE SHOW WOMAN is brilliantly realised and expertly interlaces strong female characters, deeply-woven family secrets and heartfelt love stories.
About the author
Emma Cowing is an award-winning journalist and writer. She has written for a wide number of publications including The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Guardian Weekend Magazine, Spectator and Scotsman.
Emma is a former Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards, and two-time Interviewer of the Year. She holds an Ochberg Fellowship in Journalism and Trauma at Columbia Journalism School in New York, for her work covering the war in Afghanistan, and its aftermath.
Emma was shortlisted for the 2023 Cheshire Novel Prize, and longlisted for the 2023 Bath Novel Award and Blue Pencil First Novel Award. The Show Woman is her first novel.
Emma is a former Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards, and two-time Interviewer of the Year. She holds an Ochberg Fellowship in Journalism and Trauma at Columbia Journalism School in New York, for her work covering the war in Afghanistan, and its aftermath.
Emma was shortlisted for the 2023 Cheshire Novel Prize, and longlisted for the 2023 Bath Novel Award and Blue Pencil First Novel Award. The Show Woman is her first novel.
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