THE SHOW WOMAN

A beautifully evoked historical novel about the first all female circus act

By: Emma Cowing

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Paperback | 29 April 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
336 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.3 x 2.4

Paperback

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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.

Industry Reviews

An utterly electric debut! I wanted to run away with this all-woman circus. An enthralling, dynamic tale that will stay with me for a very long time

Gorgeously written, with twists and turns worthy of a circus trapeze'

This gorgeously written novel about four very different women is compulsive, heartbreaking and like nothing else. Impossible not to get swept up into the fates of Lena, Violet, Rosie and Carmen and to feel yourself there with all the noise and clamour and conniving of the fairground. I loved it

Beautifully written, engaging plot and thoroughly researched - STYLIST

Beautifully crafted, fast-paced and compelling ... easily the debut of the year so far!

A very special debut

Suspenseful, authentic, sexy and uplifting. Beautiful writing plunges the reader into the showgrounds of Edwardian Scotland, sights, sounds, smells and all

An engrossing and evocative novel ???? - Heat

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