Sometimes the greatest spectacle hides the darkest secrets . . .

In an alternate London, the city’s Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production – the Show – has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls.

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Juliet’s mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It’s only when her father passes away that Juliet – now nineteen – learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother’s death and her father’s years of silence – and claim her birthright.

But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . .

My Review

When Juliet’s father died, his last words were ‘Madeleine, Mad…e…liene’. Juliet’s stepmother asked her, ‘What’s going on? Did he say something?’ ‘No. I mean it didn’t make sense,’ says Juliet.

Juliet never really connected emotionally with her distant father and her stepmother Clare treated her like an outsider. Her half sisters were always ‘the girls’, never ‘your sisters’. And who was Madeleine? Obviously Clare knew, but she didn’t say anything.

Juliet wanted to be a dancer, but Clare had taken her away from Miss Abbeline’s ballet school, so she could go to secretarial college. Juliet though has other ideas, especially when she discovers that her birth was registered in the Theatre District. I am not going to try and explain this because at times I didn’t really understand. I felt as though I was reading in an alternative reality, but that’s the whole point. The Theatre District is an alternative reality, an alternative London, where the police have no jurisdiction and the show must go on. And it does, in a loop, and performers are queuing up to be part of it. Punters must enter a ballot to secure a ticket, or pay a fortune to buy one.

In the meantime, a girl’s body has been found floating in the river. But is she connected to the District? There have been others, all young women, but the police have been unable to find any definitive links. The truth is not what I imagined – it’s even more sinister. But what is the truth? Because no-one seems to be telling the truth.

The story introduces us to some memorable characters apart from Juliet and Miss Abbeline. There is the Moonshine Girl who died or did she, the Girl in the Silver Shoes who trod the high wire, charismatic Ethan the Shadow Man, DC Lambert, Eugene whom Juliet befriends, and the director Conrad Danes.

There’s a bit of The Night Circus here, a little bit of Neil Gaiman. At times it was quite dark. It took a while to get going, but then it was magical, dangerous and intriguing. It’s beautifully written, drawn from the author’s vivid imagination. A classic in the making.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.

About the Author

Anne is originally from the north-east, but somehow slid down the map and finished up in a small village near Bath, where she lives with her partner and three sons. She has an MA in English Language and Linguistics from Edinburgh University, and an MSt in Linguistics from Oxford University. During her postgraduate studies, she worked as an etymologist and proofreader for a dictionary, carrying out research at the Bodleian Library.

Armed with her linguistics-related degrees and work experience, Anne took the somewhat illogical next step and became a criminal lawyer. In 2011, after several years spent working in the London courts and police stations, Anne remembered that she’d actually planned to be a writer, and commenced work on her first novel.  This was slightly unfortunate timing, given that she was right in the middle of relocating to Somerset with her family, who seemed to feel that a little less novel-writing and a little more packing might be warranted.  They probably had a point.

Over the next couple of years Anne fitted writing work around her day job as a solicitor. Her writing has appeared in various newspapers, magazines and anthologies, and has won various awards.

In 2016, The Space Between the Stars was published by Pan Macmillan in the UK and Random House in the US. She wrote most of this novel while studying for a Creative Writing MA at Bath Spa University. Her second novel, The Theatre of Glass and Shadows, will be published in May 2024 by Bonnier.

Anne enjoys working with other writers, through editing, mentoring and teaching.