Emma Cowing - Author. Photo Andy Low

Everything You Need To Know About The Show Woman By Emma Cowing.

AT LILY Blanche, storytelling is at the heart of what we do, so we were thrilled to collaborate with award-winning journalist and author Emma Cowing and publisher Hodder & Stoughton to celebrate the launch of Emma’s captivating debut novel The Show Woman.

Set against the rich backdrop of 1930s Scotland, The Show Woman is a bold, unforgettable story of ambition, family, and resilience – themes that resonate deeply with many of our customers.

To mark the occasion, our personalisation team crafted a Lily Blanche 4 Photo Expanding Oval Locket especially for Emma, and one lucky competition winner will be able to win a locket of their own. As a writer and former journalist, Emma has a gift for capturing emotional depth and bringing complex, inspiring women to life on the page. We’re proud to see her wearing our locket – a piece designed to hold memories close, just as her story will linger long after the final page.

Enter the competition here

Below, Lily Blanche marketing executive Ailie Robertson chats with Emma about the inspiration behind The Show Woman, the historical women who influenced her, and what it means to tell a story that spans generations.

Interview With Emma Cowing

Ailie: Your debut novel explores such a unique and intriguing topic. What inspired you to write about this particular subject?

Emma: Back in 2021, I was looking through some old family photographs with my Mum when we came across a sepia image of a woman wearing a headdress made of coins, a frilly shirt and large hoop earrings. It was my Great Aunt Violet, who had been a trapeze artist and bareback rider, and I was immediately fascinated by her.
I started asking my Mum what she remembered about her life, and that of my great-grandparents, who had run a travelling theatre that traversed the fairgrounds of Scotland between the 1880s and the 1910s. Meanwhile, I began looking up public
records and discovered that when it came to profession, many of the women in my family had been described as ‘showwomen.’
An idea began to form – the story of an all-female circus travelling the Edwardian showgrounds of Scotland, inspired by my extraordinary family members, and The Show Woman was born.

Ailie: Love, in all its forms—through family, friendship, and devotion—is a central theme in
the novel. Why do you think readers connect so deeply with these relationships?

Emma: I think we’re all searching for love and acceptance in some form, whether that’s
through family, friends, a romantic partner or even our work. I’ve always believed that something special happens when we pick up a book and find our own experiences reflected, even if the characters are from a completely different time and place.
There’s a sense of connection and belonging, the comforting realisation that others have felt the way we have.
There is also a strong theme of ‘found family’ in the book – the people we find in our lives who sometimes replace the families we were born into – and I think that’s something that has a lot of resonance today. Families take many different forms, and it’s a fascinating subject to explore in fiction.

Ailie: Jewellery is often passed down through generations, carrying deep personal and
emotional significance. What do you think motivates someone to preserve a piece
rather than part with it?

Emma: There’s an old saying that we never truly own a diamond; we’re just preserving it for the next generation. I think that’s true of all jewellery, whether it’s a beloved costume piece passed through the family or a sparkling diamond necklace. We want to feel like we’re leaving something behind, something that can be worn and admired, that will also remind the wearer of who we were, too.
So much of life these days is disposable – fast fashion, cheap plastics and so on – but jewellery lasts. And often, it outlasts us. I think that’s special. In The Show Woman, one of my circus members finds a piece of her mother’s jewellery that holds a secret, and I think that’s true of a lot of family heirlooms. There’s always a story.

Ailie: Lockets are known to hold deep sentimental value. What is it about them that makes
them such powerful keepsakes?

Emma: Lockets are so much more than a necklace. They hold treasures and secrets, they are precious mementoes that remind us of those we love. I’ve always liked that you can open them up to reveal an image inside – sometimes more than one. Apparently, the word derives from the Old French ‘loquet’, which meant bolt or latch, and I’m drawn to the idea that these pictures can be hidden away, made available only to the wearer. And the Lily Blanche locket opens and closes with a very satisfying click!

Ailie: Do you have any pieces of jewellery that have sentimental value to you? Have they
been passed down through generations?

Emma: When I was little, my grandmother – who appears in the book in the character of Belle and was my great aunt Violet’s sister – owned a beautiful amethyst ring. As a child, it seemed huge to me, the size of an egg, and I always loved it. When she died it passed to my Mum, but not long afterwards we had a burglary and the ring, along with other pieces of jewellery, were sadly stolen. Or so we thought. When my parents moved house many years later, my Mum discovered the ring wedged down the back of a chest of drawers. It must have fallen there during the burglary, where it had remained for almost a decade, waiting to be found.
My Mum had it polished and reset, and when things started taking off with The Show Woman and she very kindly gifted it to me. It is one of my most treasured pieces, and I have worn it for every event I’ve done for the book – even Zoom calls with my editor! It’s very special to me.

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Emma Cowing Author at Hodder & Stoughton

Discover the Lily Blanche Four Photo Expanding Oval Locket

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