Author(s): Kate Atkinson

General Fiction

From the inimitable bestselling author, Kate Atkinson, a mesmerising novel set in Soho in the 1920s, when gangsters and politicians, peers and dancing girls, rubbed shoulders in a dazzling new world. 1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost. With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems.

MATILDA BOOKSHOP REVIEW

This is Kate Atkinson at her very best. A brilliant story set in 1920s London in the clubs of Soho.

Nellie Coker rules over her empire and her family with an iron fist but her empire is being targeted from both without and within. Filled with mystery, intrigue and a cast of fantastic characters including gangsters, dancing girls, starlets and politicians, the story takes you inside the underbelly of London society and you realise that nothing is as it seems. Jo