Catherine Cookson became one of the world's most popular novelists, celebrated for her compelling stories of love, loss, and resilience. Her writing is characterized by a keen eye for detail and strong female characters who resonate deeply with readers. Though initially acclaimed for her regional focus, her readership rapidly expanded globally. Cookson's extensive body of work cemented her legacy as a beloved contemporary author whose narratives captured the human spirit.
Volume 2 opens with a seventeen-year-old Mary Ann struggling with the painful business of growing up as her first love, Corny Boyle, leaves for America. It follows her through her eventual marriage to Corny, and the joys and trials of being a wife, and a mother to six-year-old twins, Rose Mary and David.
Set in a richly detailed world, the story follows the Gillyvors, a unique group whose lives intertwine with themes of adventure and discovery. The narrative explores their challenges and triumphs, delving into their relationships and the impact of their choices. As they navigate through their environment, readers are treated to a vivid portrayal of their culture and the trials they face, making for an engaging and immersive experience.
John Emmerson was a lonely man. He had a wife, a son, friends, but he was isolated from all the people and events about him by the tragedy of his past. Then, he met Cissie, and for the first time his loneliness eased a little. Cissie was everything his wife Ann was not. And, she was quick to sense the needs of a desolate, unhappy man.
Fanny McBride was a large, cheerful, indomitable Tyneside widow with a large, cheerful family. Then there was her long-standing feud with Mrs Flannagan, the problem of the favourite child's unsuitable marriage, and the puzzle of Fanny's one unmarried son, who was far from being a typical McBride .
Dr Rodney Prince has never seen a girl look more out of place in the grime of the Fifteen Streets than Kate Hannigan. For it is a love that opposes all the concepts of Edwardian society . . .Kate Hannigan is the partly autobiographical, enthralling story of a controversial love affair, from one of the most talented storytellers of the 20th century.
Born into grinding poverty, young Freddie Musgrave relies on his wits to survive and help feed his family. But the threats of the past won't stay buried and the dark events of that distant night have cast a long and dangerous shadow... Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels.
Tilly Trotter isn't like the other girls in the villages of County Durham. Tall and coltish, she's not afraid of taking on 'man's work' to help out the grandparents who raised her. There's an unusual beauty to her too - a beauty that's envied by the local women and lusted after by the men.But for all the attention Tilly only loves one man, farmer Simon Bentwood, and she's heartbroken to discover that he's betrothed to another. But there are even harder times ahead for Tilly. A spurned suitor takes a terrible revenge. Idle gossip brands her a witch. A betrayal forces her into the cruel drudgery of the local mine and puts her life in danger. But Tilly refuses to let her spirit be broken - determined that all this will serve only to make her stronger...
At twenty-one, Jinny Brownlow finds herself in a rut, stuck in a monotonous typing job and reeling from a breakup with her fiancé, who left her for her roommate. Her only respite comes from her involvement with a local theater group, where she feels unrecognized and undervalued. Faced with the need for change, Jinny realizes that the transformation must begin within herself, prompting a journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
Catherine Cookson is known and loved for her vibrant and earthy novels set in and around the North-East of England, past and present.
Fourteen-year-old Marie Anne Lawson, youngest daughter of a prosperous Northumbrian family, fleeing from something she couldn't bear to see, fell and broke her ankle. She was discovered by a local man who, because of a disfigurement, was known thereabouts as 'the bandedman'. Her mother impatiently awaited her recovery, for she had already planned to send her wayward daughter to London, where her Aunt Martha could encourage the child's natural talent for the piano. But Aunt Martha's regime was so harsh that only the friendship of her aunt's companion, Sara Foggerty, stopped Marie Anne from plunging into despair--that and the encouragement she received from her music tutor. Why, then, did his sudden disappearance make it necessary for her to return to Northumberland, this time into the care of her grandfather? Set at the turn of the century in Northumberland and London, THE BRANDED MAN is the gripping story of Marie Anne, Sarah Foggerty and the mysterious 'branded man', who was to influence both their lives to an extent that neither of them could have imagined. This, Catherine Cookson's eighty-fifth novel, is yet another example of her extraordinary talent for compulsive storytelling.
