The Pleasure Palace: gripping and unforgettable historical fiction from the acclaimed author of The Show Woman
Jul 2026 · Hachette UK
Ebook
320
Pages
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Eligible
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infoThis book will become available on July 30, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
On a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides sits a castle of gleaming red sandstone. By day, it is the picture of elegance. But when night falls, its secrets are revealed ...
A showgirl named Emerald, rising star of London's Gaiety Theatre, is invited to spend a country house weekend on this remote Scottish island by Lord Lyndon Gunn, a mysterious and wealthy Scottish bachelor. There she is dazzled by her lavish surroundings - gilt-panelled ballrooms, hothouses filled with hummingbirds and orchids, and meals featuring delicacies including French ortolan and quail, along with the finest Champagnes.
But it is not long before Emerald - who has secrets of her own - realises things are not quite as they seem. Why are the servants blindfolded when the sun goes down? Who is the mysterious older American woman who behaves like the lady of the castle? And are the rumours of a hushed-up scandal - that someone disappeared at the last party - true?
A showgirl named Emerald, rising star of London's Gaiety Theatre, is invited to spend a country house weekend on this remote Scottish island by Lord Lyndon Gunn, a mysterious and wealthy Scottish bachelor. There she is dazzled by her lavish surroundings - gilt-panelled ballrooms, hothouses filled with hummingbirds and orchids, and meals featuring delicacies including French ortolan and quail, along with the finest Champagnes.
But it is not long before Emerald - who has secrets of her own - realises things are not quite as they seem. Why are the servants blindfolded when the sun goes down? Who is the mysterious older American woman who behaves like the lady of the castle? And are the rumours of a hushed-up scandal - that someone disappeared at the last party - true?
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.
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