Elizabeth who also writes as E.M. Scott will be speaking at The Town Hall (within the Corn Exchange) on Saturday 14th November 2026 between 4pm and 5pm.
After 40 years as a published author, Elizabeth Cooke offers her views on writing and publishing and covers the pros and cons of a writing life. Elizabeth Cooke’s first novel was in 1994 but before that she had 120 short stories published. Starting with 6 psychological thrillers (as Elizabeth McGregor) and moving through supernatural thrillers and comedies, she had her breakthrough book in 2000 with The Ice Child, published in 17 countries. Since then she’s written a trilogy for Penguin USA, two true-life crime investigations (one of which was dubbed ‘a masterpiece’ by The Times) and three crime novels under the name E M Scott. Her latest book – her twentieth – is The Tyger Striped Boy, set in the chaotic world of theatre panoramas, freak shows and animal menageries of 18th century London.
About the author
Elizabeth Cooke has been writing professionally for over thirty years and has 16 published novels and two non-fiction works. She began her writing career by winning a national short story competition, and had over 120 short stories published before she began writing novels.
Many of her books have an historical basis – real events taken from a new standpoint – but she has a particular fascination for the 18th century: a time of exploration and scientific discovery, as well as shameless exploitation.
Elizabeth lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast. She has a passion for sea swimming, art history, archaeology and landscape painting, and is also an arts volunteer.
Elizabeth’s Latest Release ‘The Tyger Striped Boy’:
In a world of spectacle, one boy’s truth could bring the house down.
London, 1789. After a fire consumes the Theatre Royal, master showman Joseph Eliot is desperate to rebuild. His answer comes in the form of a strange, silent boy—his skin marked with tiger-like stripes—and a plan to turn curiosity into spectacle.
As the boy is thrust into the limelight alongside a live tyger, audiences are captivated. But behind the applause, dark questions stir. Where did the boy come from? Why does he never speak? And what secret binds him to a powerful man with influence—and a motive to see him disappear?
As the city whispers and danger mounts, someone is arrested for a crime they may not have committed. Rebecca must uncover the truth before the curtain falls—for the boy, for Joseph, and for herself…
A vivid historical tale of wonder, love, and the fine line between performance and exploitation, The Tyger Striped Boy blends the theatrical heart of The Greatest Showman with the soulful mystery of Life of Pi.
