The Pleasure Dome

Josie Barnard

Twenty-three year old Belle is bright funny and a hopeless mess of self-doubt; a situation not impoved by having a glamorous highbrow television presenter for a mother. In a bid to shock her mother and hijack some attention for herself she gets a job as a dancer at Xanadu a glitzy and cheap strip joint in Soho run by a 'hands on' proprietor with tough girls who eye this new innocent in the dressing room with thinly veiled scorn and suspicion. But to her surprise Belle finds her new persona - in g-strings and outlandish stage shows- fits her better than her old anxious self. This new flamboyant sexy thing feels like the real Belle. But only until Belle makes the mistake of thinking she is equal to the situation...

The relationship between sex self and society is brilliantly dissected in this darkly witty second novel by one of Britain's rising stars.