The Glimmer Palace

Beatrice Colin

Jul 2008 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Justine Eyre

About this audiobook

A celebration of cabaret in Berlin and the birth of cinema, set against the rise and fall of Germany between World War I and World War II

As the clock chimed the turn of the twentieth century, Lilly Nelly Aphrodite took her first breath. The illegitimate, soon orphaned daughter of a cabaret performer, she lands at a Catholic orphanage where she finds refuge and the first in a string of friendships that will change the direction of her life. When fellow orphan Hanne takes Lilly beyond their stone confines, introducing her to the seedy glamour of Berlin’s notorious nightlife, it begins for Lillly a trajectory of reinvention. From urchin to maid, teenage war bride, tingle-tangle bargirl, model, and script typist, Lilly is eventually transformed into one of Germany’s leading film stars and a partner in a remarkable love story that will span decades and continents—and be inextricable from the history unfolding around it.

Gripping, seductive, and masterfully written, The Glimmer Palace is a page-turning story of glitter and splendor, drama and love, friendship and identity. The story of an extraordinary heroine living in an extraordinary time, it is vivid and surprising in its telling, intelligent and ambitious in its scope, sad and beautiful and unforgettable.
 

About the author

Beatrice Colin, born in London and raised in Scotland, is the author of the novel The Glimmer Palace. She has also worked as a freelance journalist, writing for publications such as The Guardian, and as a playwright, writing radio plays for the BBC. Colin lives in Glasgow.

Justine Eyre is an Audie Award–winning narrator with almost 300 titles to her credit. AudioFile magazine named her a Best Voice for Young Adult titles in 2013. Classically trained, she has appeared on stage, film, and television in such shows as Two and a Half Men and Mad Men.