The People's Palace is a Grade II listed building in Mile End in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

It is home to the Great Hall, a large theatre and entertainment venue, and is now part of Queen Mary University of London.

... was the result of a visit from Walter Besant, the famous novelist, who was casting about in this portion of London in search of material for a new romance.

[2] The story is of a dream, in which a great "Palace of Delight" has been erected, where the lower classes gather for instruction and amusement ...

It boasted that it employed women librarians at the suggestion of Sir Edmund Hay Currie who was the chair of the trustees and Walter Besant.