Description

A celebration of the cabaret era and the magical ascent of cinema, set against the rise and fall of Berlin- "a dazzling epic [novel] of survival." (Emma Donoghue, author of Slammerkin)

The orphaned daughter of a cabaret performer, Lilly Aphrodite finds refuge at a Catholic orphanage-and a trajectory of reinvention, seduction, and danger begins. From urchin to maid, war bride to model, Lilly eventually finds her destiny as a famous silent-film star, and enters into a sweeping romance that, crossing decades and continents, becomes inextricable from the astonishing historical events unfolding around it.

About the Author

Beatrice Colin was born in London and raised in Scotland. She has worked as a freelance journalist, writing for publications including The Guardian, and as a playwright, writing radio plays for the BBC.

Praise for The Glimmer Palace…

"This extravaganza had me from page one."
-Emma Donoghue, author of Slammerkin

"Colin's heroine, Lilly Aphrodite, is as rich, alive, and dangerous as the city she inhabits; and as the novel progresses, Berlin's history becomes her own."
-David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife and The Danish Girl

"Absorbing...Deftly captur[es] the era's sense of frenzied invention and seductive promise."
-The New York Times Book Review