The Show Woman, by Emma Cowing review: 'enchanting'

Emma Cowing paints a convincing portrait of a vanished world in her debut novel, writes Allan Massie, and tells a compelling story to boot

Scotsman readers will already know Emma Cowing as a fine journalist from her time as features editor, and she has since written for most national newspapers and been named feature writer of the year at the Scottish Press Awards. She has come a bit late to novel writing, and The Show Woman is so enjoyable and well written (not always the same thing) that one can only wonder why it has taken her so long to turn novelist.

The Show Woman is a historical novel, in that it is set before the First World War in the west of Scotland, but it is written in an easy tone of voice and with very little more than an echo of the language spoken at that time. This is a wise decision; attempts to reproduce the speech patterns of the past are more often embarrassing than convincing. The book reads so easily and agreeably that it took only a few pages for me to set aside my usual distaste for novels written in the present tense, something that usually acts as a brake on fluid narrative.

Emma Cowing | Andy Low

As the title indicates, the story is about the “shows” - small travelling circuses, some very small, that went around towns and villages and provided popular entertainment in places too small to have a theatre or music hall, playing for a few days, sometimes only one or two, in any location. These provided popular entertainment until eventually, after the First World War, they were superceded by cinemas, though a few indeed survived into the 1950s, when television replaced so much live entertainment. It is therefore a vanished world, deftly and persuasively recaptured. Cowing tells us that the novel was inspired by her own family's history, and this no doubt contributes to the sense of authenticity.

The heroine is Lena, a young girl who boldly sets up her own show in the face of a good deal of opposition from rivals, some not above attempts to thwart her and damage her work. Her two star performers are a marvellous trapeze artist and a young girl who does virtuoso feats standing on a small pony; it sounds charming. Competition is fierce and often unscrupulous, however, especially from one well-established circus chief, a woman who has been successful and famous for so long that her circus has been patronised by Queen Victoria. There is competition from elsewhere too, but Lena is a splendidly determined girl.

The Show Woman is of course a feminist novel, and it is also a family story. Lena's mother left home mysteriously years ago, leaving only a note. There's a catch to this: the mother, Maggie, was illiterate. So, is she alive or dead? It’s a puzzle.

Most of the men who feature are a rough lot, given to drunkenness and violence. One of them regularly abused his daughter from early childhood; happily she was brave enough to run away and join Lena's all-female show. Sill, Cowing is too sensible a writer to offer a simplistic "men all brutal beasts / women all noble victims” dichotomy. The circus owner admired by Queen Victoria is capable of some very nasty tricks and some men, especially young Harry, who joins Lena's company, is a decent fellow.

The Show Woman scores highly for atmosphere and characterisation, but as well as being often enchanting, and presenting a convincing portrait of a vanished world and way of life, this is also a novel that tells a compelling and well-devised, often surprising story. It is very refreshing to come upon a novelist who understands the importance of a gripping narrative without toppling into the highly improbable.

The Show Woman, by Emma Cowing, Hodder & Stoughton, £20