Catherine Cookson Books In Order

Kate Hannigan Books In Publication Order

  1. Kate Hannigan (1950)
  2. Kate Hannigan’s Girl (2000)

Mary Ann Shaughnessy Books In Publication Order

  1. A Grand Man (1954)
  2. The Lord and Mary Ann (1956)
  3. The Devil and Mary Ann (1958)
  4. Love and Mary Ann (1961)
  5. Life and Mary Ann (1962)
  6. Marriage and Mary Ann (1964)
  7. Mary Ann’s Angels (1965)
  8. Mary Ann and Bill (1967)
  9. Bill and the Mary Ann Shaughnessy (2011)

The Mallen Trilogy Books In Publication Order

  1. The Mallen Streak (1973)
  2. The Mallen Girl (1973)
  3. The Mallen Litter / The Mallen Lot (1974)

The Tiller Trotter Trilogy Books In Publication Order

  1. Tilly Trotter / Tilly (1980)
  2. Tilly Trotter Wed / Tilly Wed (1981)
  3. Tilly Trotter Widowed / Tilly Alone (1982)

The Hamilton Trilogy Books In Publication Order

  1. Hamilton (1983)
  2. Goodbye Hamilton (1985)
  3. Harold (1985)

The Bailey Chronicles Books In Publication Order

  1. Bill Bailey (1986)
  2. Bill Bailey’s Lot (1987)
  3. Bill Baileys Daughter (1989)
  4. The Bondage of Love (1998)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Fifteen Streets (1952)
  2. Colour Blind (1953)
  3. Maggie Rowan (1954)
  4. Rooney (1957)
  5. The Menagerie (1958)
  6. Fanny McBride (1959)
  7. Fenwick Houses (1960)
  8. The Garment (1962)
  9. Heritage of Folly (As: Catherine Marchant) (1962)
  10. The Blind Miller (1963)
  11. House of Men (As: Catherine Marchant) (1963)
  12. The House on the Fens / Fen Tiger (As: Catherine Marchant) (1963)
  13. The Wingless Bird (1964)
  14. Hannah Massey (1964)
  15. Evil at Roger’s Cross / The Iron Facade (1965)
  16. The Long Corridor (1965)
  17. Matty Doolin (1965)
  18. The Unbaited Trap (1966)
  19. Katie Mulholland’s Journey (1967)
  20. Slinky Jane (1967)
  21. Joe & the Gladiator (1968)
  22. The Round Tower (1968)
  23. The Nice Bloke (1969)
  24. The Glass Virgin (1969)
  25. Invitation (1970)
  26. The Nipper (1970)
  27. The Dwelling Place (1971)
  28. Feathers in the Fire (1971)
  29. Pure as the Lily (1972)
  30. Blue Baccy (1973)
  31. Our John Willie (1974)
  32. The Invisible Cord (1975)
  33. Miss Martha Mary Crawford (As:Catherine Marchant) (1975)
  34. The Gambling Man (1975)
  35. The Tide of Life (1976)
  36. Mrs Flannagan’s Trumpet (1976)
  37. The Slow Awakening (As:Catherine Marchant) (1976)
  38. The Girl (1977)
  39. Go Tell It to Mrs Golightly (1977)
  40. The Cinder Path (1978)
  41. The Man Who Cried (1979)
  42. Lanky Jones (1980)
  43. The Whip (1982)
  44. The Black Velvet Gown (1984)
  45. The Bannaman Legacy / Dinner of Herbs (1985)
  46. The Moth / The Thorman Inheritance (1986)
  47. Parson’s Daughter (1987)
  48. Rory’s Fortune (1988)
  49. The Harrogate Secret (1988)
  50. The Cultured Handmaiden (1988)
  51. The Black Candle (1989)
  52. The Spaniard’s Gift (1989)
  53. The Gillyvors / Daughter of Scandal (1990)
  54. My Beloved Son (1991)
  55. Love Child (1991)
  56. The Rag Nymph (1991)
  57. The House of Women (1992)
  58. The Maltese Angel (1992)
  59. Year of the Virgins (1993)
  60. The Golden Straw (1993)
  61. Justice Is A Woman (1994)
  62. The Tinker’s Girl (1994)
  63. The Obsession (1995)
  64. A Ruthless Need (1995)
  65. The Upstart (1996)
  66. The Branded Man (1996)
  67. The Bonny Dawn (1996)
  68. The Desert Crop (1997)
  69. The Lady on My Left / The Mists of Memory (1997)
  70. The Solace of Sin (1998)
  71. Riley (1998)
  72. The Blind Years (1998)
  73. The Thursday Friend (1999)
  74. A House Divided (1999)
  75. Rosie Of The River (2000)
  76. The Silent Lady (2001)
  77. Saint Christopher and the Gravedigger (2017)
  78. The Rag Maid (2017)
  79. The Glassmaker’s Daughter (2018)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. The Simple Soul and Other Stories (2001)
  2. Just a Saying (2002)

Picture Books In Publication Order

  1. Nancy Nutall and The Mongrel (1990)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Our Kate (1969)
  2. Catherine Cookson Country (1986)
  3. Let Me Make Myself Plain (1990)
  4. Plainer Still (1995)
  5. My Land of the North (1999)
  6. Kate’s Daughter: The Real Catherine Cookson (With: ) (2003)
  7. Before I Go (2017)

Kate Hannigan Book Covers

Mary Ann Shaughnessy Book Covers

The Mallen Trilogy Book Covers

The Tiller Trotter Trilogy Book Covers

The Hamilton Trilogy Book Covers

The Bailey Chronicles Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Story Collections Book Covers

Picture Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Catherine Cookson Books Overview

Kate Hannigan

Master of romantic fiction Catherine Cookson is world renowned for her enthralling tales of love that triumphs over impossible odds. In Kate Hannigan, her very first novel, Catherine Cookson introduces us to the enduring story of her most charismatic hero*ine. The moment he lays eyes on Kate, Dr. Rodney Prince is enchanted. He senses in this poverty stricken patient an intelligence and warmth that’s completely unexpected. His own wife, living in the oblivion of velvet cushions and lavish dinner parties, seems crude by comparison. Though they meet only briefly then retreat to their separate worlds, the image of Kate leaves an indelible mark upon his mind. Rodney knows that Kate’s spirit has survived life long suffering at the hands of men. Her father, an embittered dock worker, directed his violent rages toward Kate and her mother. At age eighteen Kate fell victim to a smooth talking seducer and became the unwed mother of a child she later compromised her dignity to support. Such circumstances only deepen Rodney’s desire to rescue Kate and overturn the codes of a society that serve to keep them apart. As the kindhearted Dr. Prince unintentionally wins over the heart of Kate’s fatherless daughter, he and Kate begin to acknowledge that the gap between rich and poor might not be so great after all. Available now in the United States, Kate Hannigan remains a timeless tribute to romantic love. England’s late, great Catherine Cookson has spun the unforgettable tale of a wealthy man caught in a loveless marriage, a young woman trapped in the slums, and their defiance of the mores of Edwardian society.

Kate Hannigan’s Girl

Catherine Cookson was one of the world’s most beloved writers. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imagination of readers around the globe. She passed away in 1998, but luckily for her fans, Cookson left behind several unpublished works, including the magnificent Kate Hannigan’s Girl her 100th book, the powerful companion to her first novel, Kate Hannigan. Set in the English countryside in the early twentieth century, Kate Hannigan’s Girl is the story of Kate’s eldest daughter, the lovely, free spirited Annie Hannigan. Blessed with silver blond braids and a lighthearted disposition, Annie enjoys a life her mother never had. She is surrounded by material comforts and a loving family, protected from the poverty and shame her mother endured in the slums. But as Cookson fans have come to expect, no good life can go unmarred by heartache. Annie grows into a beautiful young woman, and soon she draws the interest of both friends and neighbors. She falls in love with Terence Macbane, the elusive boy next door. But there are those who would keep them apart: Her childhood friend Brian Stannard is determined to have her for himself, and her more worldly rival, Cathleen Davidson, harbors a bitter jealousy that will prove dangerous to all. Tormented by unrequited love, the revelation of her own illegitimacy, and the demands of her deep seated faith, Annie discovers that sometimes love is not enough she must fight for what she wants. Kate Hannigan’s Girl is vintage Cookson. With its larger themes of early twentieth century romantic love and class conflict, this novel showcases Catherine Cookson at the height of her storytelling powers, and it is sure to satisfy devoted readers everywhere.

Tilly Trotter / Tilly

Coming up sixteen, Tilly Trotter is different from the other girls in her village. Tall for her age and coltish, she is not afraid of taking on man’s work to help out the grandparents who raised her in a cottage at the edge of the Sopwith Estate, only a few miles from the bustling Tyneside towns of County Durham. Testing times lay ahead for Tilly, often hard to endure and even bringing her the undeserved taint of being suspected of witchcraft. Tilly, with her unusual beauty, envied by the local women and lusted after by the men, only loves one man farmer Simon Bentwood. She is heartbroken to discover he is betrothed to another. A spurned suitor takes a terrible revenge, and 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 only serve to make her stronger and she grows to become a young woman of innate courage and fortitude. Set at the beginning of the Victorian era, this is a compelling story that follows the shaping of a young woman s life and destiny.

Hamilton

Maisie could never be quite Sure when she met up with Hamilton; most likely, it was when she started talking to herself as an often lonely seven year old. Hamilton, an imaginary horse, had to remain a secret for many years, for what Would people think of Maisie if she revealed that the only friend she had was a horse who acted as her guide, philosopher and confidant Life was difficult enough for Maisie without that, and increasingly so as she grew to womanhood and became a wife. But if she could not talk about Hamilton, she could at least write about him. And write she did, with results that would broaden her horizons far beyond her native Tyneside. Collected together in one volume for the first time, the three Hamilton novels tell a story in which Catherine Cookson blends humour and pathos to irresistible effect.

Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey came into the life of a young widow Fiona Nelson and her three children as a lodger. He appeared to be ordinary enough but behind his rough charm lay some remarkable qualities, which were to have a great and lasting effect on the future lives of Fiona and the children. Before long Fiona and Bill are married and they embark on a life together. They adopt a child and have one of their own. But their path is never smooth, and fluctuating fortunes take them from success to failure and back again…
Collected together in one volume for the first time, Catherine Cookson’s first three Bill Bailey novels are richly entertaining tales of family life and relationships which touch the heart and offer much shrewd observation of the human condition.

Bill Baileys Daughter

In this, the third novel of a trilogy, the atmosphere in the Bailey household was alive with anticipation. It was not only because Christmas was approaching, or even that Bill Bailey was tackling the biggest project of his career. No, all the excitement was because in two weeks time, Fiona Bailey would give birth to a baby, the first arrival since Bill had married Fiona as a young widow, already mother of Mark, Katie and Willie, and with the adopted Mamie now part of the family circle. But however much they looked forward to the event, there was the niggling concern of emotional adjustments to be made and how this new arrival would stretch the established relationships that had been so carefully nurtured. Suppose something went wrong? The Baileys were to learn about such considerations in the time ahead, and their experiences make this novel a most fascinating study of human relationships.

The Fifteen Streets

Catherine Cookson was one of the world’s most beloved writers. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imaginations of readers around the globe. Now, available for the first time in this country, comes one of Cookson’s earliest and most stirring historical romances: The Fifteen Streets. John O’Brien lives in a world where surviving is a continual struggle. He works long hours at the docks to help support his parents’ large family. Many other families in The Fifteen Streets have already given up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty, but the O’Briens continue to strive for a world they are only rarely allowed to glimpse. Then John O’Brien meets Mary Llewellyn, a beautiful young teacher who belongs to that other world. What begins as a casual conversation over tea quickly blossoms into a rare love that should have been perfect. Fate steps in, however, when John is accused of fathering the child of a local girl, and Mary’s parents forbid her to see him. The couple begins to realize that the gulf of The Fifteen Streets between them is a chasm they could never bridge or might they still find a way? In these pages Catherine Cookson displays the irresistible plotting, scene setting, and characterization that have made her a recognized master of historical and romance fiction. Fans of her novels, with their larger themes of romantic love and class conflict, will be delighted to find that even at the beginning of her illustrious career, Cookson had the power to captivate audiences. Filled with passion and compelling drama, The Fifteen Streets is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.

Colour Blind

Even in the worst days of the slump, the McQueens kept their chins up. One by one their neighbours had departed for the workhouse, their last poor sticks of furniture carted off by the bailiffs. But even though there mightn’t be much on the table, the McQueen house constantly echoed with laughter. It was the family’s watchword when all else failed, you could always laugh.

Like many of the people of the Fifteen Streets, the McQueens were as blunt as they were big hearted. They had views on everything and everybody, and woe betide anyone who went against the grain. But when Bridget McQueen came home with her new husband, proudly carrying his bairn, you could have heard a pin drop at that house. For nothing had prepared them for the shock of having a black man in the family..

Fenwick Houses

High above the river stood the small terrace of miners’ cottages known as Fenwick Houses. Here, during the hazardous years of the Depression, lived Christine Winter, a girl blessed or cursed with that indefinable appeal that drives men to the brink of obsession. Three men dominated her life: her brother Ronnie; Sam, whose devotion was deep and loyal; and Don Dowling, cruel and tormented, who made it his life’s ambition to possess her. To Ronnie and Sam, she was joined by a thread of harmony; but Don was the needle through which the thread was drawn, and the point was sharp and deadly…
Then, one day, a stranger came to the river bank and Christine found herself changed beyond recall.

The Garment

Motherhood is every woman’s right and the natural outcome of a happy marriage. But what then when a normal and beautiful young woman is forced to recognise, after two years as the wife of a country parson in the north of England, that her marriage is a sham and will never bring her the fulfilment she desperately needs?Grace Rouse is faced with this situation and, like many other women before her, she seeks to escape a mounting sense of frustration and despair by turning from the husband she has tried in vain to love to the comfort and release offered by another man. The final outcome presents a huge dilemma as Grace is forced to wage a war between a man who can give her children and love and a man who passionately desires children but can only give them his name.

The Blind Miller

In a house of secrets, a mother’s authority is threatened.

House of Men (As: Catherine Marchant)

When Kate Mitchell was offered the job of parttime secretary at Tor Fret, a lonely old house on the Northumberland fells, she had no idea that the household was composed only of men. Her employer, Maurice Rossiter, an embittered victim of polio, was subject to alternate fits of temper and depression. Even so, Kate found it difficult to understand his peculiar hatred of his elder brother Logan, on whose charity Maurice was obliged to depend. But when she accidentally stumbled upon Maurice with Logan’s fiancee, she became aware of some of the secrets of Tor Fret, and realised she was getting too deeply involved with Logan Rossiter and the other inhabitants of this mysterious household…
House of Men is a powerful novel, originally published under the pseudonym of Catherine Marchant, by Catherine Cookson, whose many bestselling novels have established her as the best loved of contemporary women writers.

The House on the Fens / Fen Tiger (As: Catherine Marchant)

A romance between Rosamund, a girl from a poor fen family, and Michael, the ‘Fen Tiger’, himself suffering from a fateful past.

The Wingless Bird

It is 1913 and the approach of Christmas fails to excite the restless Agnes Conway, the twenty two year old manager of her feckless father’s adjoining sweet and tobacconist shops. There are dark secrets in Arthur Conway s past, and these come tragically to light when Agnes s younger sister becomes pregnant by one of the notorious Felton brothers. And Agnes herself has a secret which she knows she must keep from her father: an attachment to Charles Farrier, son of a local landowner, who outrages his own pious family by proposing marriage. But Charles is not the only man who shapes Agnes s future, for his brother Reginald makes no secret of his admiration for her. She could not have foreseen how significant a part he was to play in her destiny…

Evil at Roger’s Cross / The Iron Facade

This volume contains two novels by Catherine Cookson. In The Iron Facade, a scorned woman attempts to escape her life, but ends up at a cottage where she meets a man who might change it all. In The House of Men, a woman becames entangled in the love and deceptions of two men in their mysterious household.

Katie Mulholland’s Journey

Set against a Tyneside background, this novel features an illegitimate girl who made a rich and powerful impression on all the men and women around her, forging an empire for herself amidst the coalmines and shipyards, founding a dynasty in defiance of social conventions.

The Round Tower

Vanessa Ratcliffe was just sixteen and even though she had a convent education she had a provocative manner that drew envious eyes in her direction. She lived in one of the big houses on Brampton Hill, for the Ratcliffes, a powerful and avaricious family, were considered ‘big’ folk in the town. Angus Cotton was a rough diamond who lived in Ryder’s Row, down among the goods yards and dirty streets. But as an engineer at Affleck and Tate he was worth his weight in gold; and the manager, Vanessa’s father, knew it but hated to admit it. Angus had ambitious plans for his future, and although these plans had never included Vanessa, events were to draw them together…

The Glass Virgin

Annabella Lagrange had the kind of childhood that most can only dream about. The only child of an aristocratic couple, raised on their magnificent estate in the English countryside, she was loved by her parents and coddled by servants who acquiesced to her every whim. She was allowed to do anything she wanted, except, of course, to stray too far from her wing of the house. But her seclusion didn’t concern her too much, because when she grew up, she planned to marry her handsome cousin Stephen and live happily ever after.

However, on the morning of her tenth birthday, Annabella ventured farther than she’d ever gone before. Overcome with curiosity, she opened a forbidden door that led into her father’s private quarters, and what she found there showed her with shocking clarity that her father was not the man she thought he was. And though she couldn’t know it at the time, the events of that day set in motion the uncovering of a secret that had been kept for many years.

So begins the remarkable story of Annabella Lagrange, a sensitive, beautiful young woman who was raised as a lady. But when she turns eighteen, she learns the surprising circumstances of her birth, and her entire world quietly crashes around her. Suddenly she’s forced from the genteel surroundings of her youth into the rough, lower class society of Victorian England, where only her quick wit and determination can save her from starvation.

Catherine Cookson was one of the world’s most beloved writers, and in The Glass Virgin her powers are at their height. Rarely has a hero*ine been portrayed more sensitively or a situation more compellingly. Filled with passion and drama, The Glass Virgin is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.

The Dwelling Place

When her parents die of cholera in 1832, 15 year old Cissie Brodie and her nine brothers and sisters are homeless. To escape being taken to the workhouse, Cissie builds them a dwelling place on the open Northumbrian fells. This is the story of her heroic fight to rear them under appalling conditions of cold, near starvation and persecution. 10 cassettes.

Blue Baccy

In 1851 a fifteen year old wheelwright’s apprentice delivers a message for the injured master he loves and trusts, only to find the errand thrusts him into a dangerous smuggling operation.

Mrs Flannagan’s Trumpet

While staying with his grandparents on the eastern coast of England in 1890, 16 year old Eddie finds himself allied with his rather prickly and reputedly deaf grandmother in the struggle to free his sister and the household maid from a band of white slavers.

The Cinder Path

Was Charlie MacFell just the kind of nice chap who always takes the dirty end of the stick, lacking the inner strength to take a firm stand in either life or love?

The Man Who Cried

There are men who can at times be stirred by the power and conflict of their own emotions to the point of shedding tears. Such a man was Abel Mason. Unhappily married to the shrewish Lena, he sought release in a love affair that soon ended in brutal tragedy. Abel left home, taking with him his young son, Dick, and together they tramped their way to the North where his roots lay. It was a hard and sometimes traumatic journey, and at its end there seemed to open up whole new vistas of life and experience. But the spectre of the past remained, and the burden of its secrets continued to play a major part in shaping both Abel and his son’s destiny.

Lanky Jones

A 15 year old boy and his divorced father become stranded and are offered refuge by a kind family in their farm house where they hear screams in the night, meet a threatening character, and eventually encounter vicious sheep thieves.

The Whip

The Whip is set in Tyneside, a region in northern England where the rugged country and rough weather once made life little more than a battle for survival. But Emma Molinero, orphan daughter of an itinerant carnival performer, is beyond that kind of struggle. She is a woman whose fiery independence and skill at performing with The Whips her father’s only legacy make her a figure of mysterious but commanding fascination to the villagers among whom she lives. ‘The Whip is Miss Cookson’s finest novel to date…
a richly detailed, totally absorbing story that will surely add many new readers to the millions who are already devoted Catherine Cookson fans.’ Publisher’s Source

The Black Velvet Gown

There would be times when Riah Millican came to regret that her husband had learned to read and write, and then shared his knowledge with her and their children. For this was Durham in the 1830 s, when employers tended to regard the spread of education with suspicion. But now Seth Millican was dead and she was a widow with the need to find a home and a living for herself and her children. The chance of becoming a housekeeper didn t work out, but it led to a job in Moor House with a scholarly recluse obsessed with books and education. The effect of this environment on her daughter, Biddy, who was not only bright but willful, started a chain reaction that should have opened many doors to her future but instead created many problems for the pair of them. The Black Velvet Gown is the compelling story of a mother and daughter, often at odds with each other, facing the need to challenge and fight the prejudices of an age a narrative of great power and diversity that has become one of Catherine Cookson’s major achievements.

The Moth / The Thorman Inheritance

Photographs help show the life cycle of the moth from the egg and caterpillar stages to the moment it emerges from the cocoon as a flying insect.

The Cultured Handmaiden

At twenty one, Jinny Brownlow’s life is not going as well as she had hoped. She’s working at a dead end typing job at an engineering firm and has just been dumped by her fianc for her own roommate. Outside of work her only hobby is her local theater group, but even there she’s just a general helper and not credited with having any talent at all. Something needs to change in Jinny’s life, and it may have to be Jinny herself. ‘A bloody cultured handmaiden…
Yes, that’s a good description of you. So agreeable, so polite, so damned eager to please.’ These are Ray’s words to Jinny the night he confesses he’s gotten her roommate, Emily, pregnant. Ray had apparently found Emily a more willing bedmate, and he reminds Jinny that things might have worked out had she been more cooperative. Thinking this over after Ray’s departure, Jinny recalls the past year with a sigh. Her experiences with men have been disasters. Jinny’s lonely life working the day away at her desk and sitting alone in her tiny apartment at night practicing French and listening to her radio seems destined to continue indefinitely, until one day the owner of the firm, Mr. Henderson, calls her into his office. Known to be a devil of a man who works longer and harder than everyone else, Bob Henderson seems an unlikely candidate to change Jinny’s life. When she’s called to do typing for him she’s terrified but refuses to cower like the other secretaries and ends up earning his respect and affection. On the same day, Hal Campbell, leading man in her theater group, goes out of his way to take a special interest in Jinny and her personal problems, and she realizes she may not have to be as lonely as she thought. Each of these two men will be an important part of Jinny’s changing life, inspiring her to become less of a ‘cultured handmaiden’ and think more about what she wants, but she’s holding out for the perfect man one who will treat her like a princess while respecting her beliefs about marriage and her hesitancy to give herself to any man outside those sacred bonds. After a twisting, unpredictable search, in the end Jinny discovers that there just might be someone for everyone after all. The Cultured Handmaiden displays the beloved Catherine Cookson’s powers at their fullest and her enduring themes of hardship, love, virtue, and hope.

The Black Candle

Bridget Dean Mordaunt was a woman of consequence in her own part of the world. Inheriting her father’s businesses at the age of nineteen, by the time she was twenty three in 1880, she was running them as confidently as any man. Yet the path destiny required her to follow was not an easy one. Her feckless cousin Victoria became infatuated with Lionel Filmore, the fortune hunting elder son of an old but impoverished family living in the decayed grandeur of Grove House. Bridget had no illusions about Lionel, but Victoria’s happiness was paramount to her. So a pattern began to form that would shape the lives of generations to come, a pattern of some good and some great evil, but all of it inexorably linking Bridget ever more closely with the Filmores and their house. The Black Candle displays all of Catherine Cookson’s narrative skills and shrewd perception of human strengths and frailties which have established her as our most widely read and best loved novelist. And in Bridget Mordaunt she has achieved a notable and highly distinctive addition to her gallery of remarkable women.

My Beloved Son

Fatherless at five, Joseph Jebeau grows up to defend his country and himself against Hitler’s mad ambitions, against his mother’s ruthlessness, and against secrets from the past. By the author of The Love Child.Lit Guild & Doubleday Alt.

The Rag Nymph

Orphaned at a tender age, Millie Forester is adopted by ”Raggie Aggie” Winkowski, and she suffers misfortune and misplaced love as she grows to adulthood side by side with Aggie’s son, Ben, whose love for Millie increases over the years.

The House of Women

Emma Funnell is the matriarch of Bramble House, built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick Funnell who had since died. Now into her seventies, and with the avowed intent of living to be a hundred, Emma continued to keep the firmest of hands on domestic affairs and commercial interests. Under Emma’s roof and rule lived three more generations of the Funnell family, all of them women. Widowed daughter Victoria had over the years become increasingly preoccupied with hypochondria; granddaughter Lizzie bore the brunt of most matters concerned with the running of the house, as well as enduring a loveless marriage to Len Hammond, a bitter, frustrated man with little kindness in him and a good deal of suppressed violence; and great granddaughter Peggy, a sixteen year old schoolgirl trying to find the courage to drop a bombshell into their midst. For Peggy had become pregnant by one Andrew Jones, a bright grammar school lad from an entirely different background. This might be 1968, but the family reaction was surely to be faced with great trepidation. This explosive situation provides the springboard for a powerful and wholly absorbing novel that explores, over a span of fifteen years, all that fate holds in store for the dwellers in The House of Women and those whose lives they touch, reaching its climax with the frank confrontation of a major social issue today.

The Maltese Angel

Ward Gibson knew what was expected of him by the village folk, and especially by the Mason family, whose daughter Daisy he had known all his life. But then, in a single week, his whole world had been turned upside down by a dancer, Stephanie McQueen, who seemed to float across the stage of the Empire Music Hall where she was appearing as The Maltese Angel. To his amazement, the attraction was mutual, and after a whirlwind courtship she agreed to marry him. But a scorpion had already begun to emerge from beneath the stone of the local community, who considered that Ward had betrayed their expectations, and had led on and cruelly deserted Daisy. There followed a series of reprisals on his family, one of them serious enough to cause him to exact a terrible revenge; and these events would twist and turn the course of many lives through Ward’s own and succeeding generations. The Maltese Angel displays Catherine Cookson at her towering best in this immensely powerful novel which spans more than three decades, from the 1880’s through to the First World War, and reaffirms yet again the author’s standing as the best loved and most widely read of today’s story tellers.

Year of the Virgins

Struggling to maintain a facade of family harmony for the sake of their religious beliefs and three grown children, Winifred and Daniel Coulson begin a legacy in which their youngest son, Donald, must choose between the values of the past and present.

The Golden Straw

A historical novel following YEAR OF THE VIRGINS and spanning the years from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. It tells the story of a milliner who falls in love with a hotel guest whilst on holiday in Nice. The relationship is to bring nothing but trouble to her and will affect the whole family for generations to come.

The Tinker’s Girl

Just before her fifteenth birthday Jinnie Howlett is offered a position as maid of all work at a farm near the Cumbrian border. She hopes this will be a welcome relief from the workhouse she knows too well. But when she meets her brutish employers Jinnie realises she has only exchanged one life of drudgery for another. She is grateful when one of the sons befriends her, but it isn’t long before Jennie sees how tempting life is beyond her place of work…

The Obsession

Beatrice Steel, always over possessive about her family home, Pine Hurst, has become insufferably dominating since the death of her mother, ruling her father, her sisters and the servants with an iron hand. Of course, she constantly has to remind herself, it is her father who actually owns the house, but it is the thought that he might remarry, thus making another woman mistress of Pine Hurst, that fills her with dread. Then, unexpectedly, her father dies and, when the family gather for the reading of the will, nothing she hears matches her expectations. It is then she realises that her security is threatened and that she must begin to lay plans to protect her position and allow her to enjoy her most prized possession. The Obsession is one of Catherine Cookson’s most unusual novels, powerfully portrays a woman so driven by the need to protect her inheritance that she will sacrifice almost anything or anyone to ensure she does not lose it. It is yet another triumph for this most popular of authors.

The Upstart

A wealthy tradesman’s attempt to climb beyond his station in life reaps tragic consequences for his family as one of the world’s best loved writers enthralls her millions of fans once again with a masterly portrayal of the conflicts of class and character in late 19th century England National print publicity. .

The Branded Man

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.

The Desert Crop

Shocking tragedy unexpectedly frees a young man to pursue the love and happiness he thought were unattainable in this family saga by Catherine Cookson, who remains even after her death one of the world’s best loved historical novelists. Money was tight in the fanning communities around Fellburn, England, in the 1880s, so when Hector Stewart, only two years after the death of his long suffering wife, announces to his children, Daniel and Pattie, that he is to marry Moira Conelly, a ‘wealthy’ distant relative who lives in ‘a castle’ in Ireland, it is easy to discern his motive. As for Moira, who had not been entirely honest about her background or finances, she has convinced herself that she would be marrying into landed gentry, allowing her the leisured lifestyle to which she believes herself entitled. It is with sonic surprise, therefore, after she arrives with her companion, Maggie Ann, that she realizes she is now the mistress of a ramshackle farm without any servants. Nonetheless, with her ever cheerful disposition, Moira soon settles into the Stewart family routine. Pattie, always the rebel, leaves home to be married, but Daniel, deprived of an opportunity to study at university by his father’s insistence that he stay on the farm, can see no escape. Moira and Hector’s marriage of convenience works well enough at first, but as their growing family compounds their financial difficulties, Hector’s behavior toward her changes disturbingly. A horrifying act of violence provokes an even more shocking act of retribution in the family. Yet, this tragedy opens the way for Daniel to expand his horizons and to find the love and joy that have long been denied him. Set in Catherine Cookson’s now familiar area of northeast England, Fellburn and its surroundings, this deeply felt novel of family conflict will be admired as one of the most powerful Cookson wrote in a career that spanned more that forty years.

The Lady on My Left / The Mists of Memory

Alison Read, orphaned at two years old, is brought up by her guardian Paul Aylmer, an antique dealer who she works for. When he asks her to value the contents of Beacon Ride, matters do not proceed as expected, leading to a chain of events that reveal a secret Paul has concealed for years.

The Solace of Sin

From the first moment she saw the house on the moors north of Hexham, Constance Stapleton knew she could live there, despite its isolation, its lack of basic facilities and despite her fear of loneliness. With her marriage on the brink of disintegration, she had already decided to sell the large flat she and her husband Jim shared and she saw the move as a means of initiating the separation she knew was necessary. Their son, Peter, would soon be off to university and there was, she decided, no reason to delay the inevitable. Even if the winters at Shekinah, as the house was called, were as severe as her family had warned, she told herself she could always buy a flat in nearby Hexham. To buy the house, Connie was told that she must negotiate with the nearby O Connors, one of whom, Vincent, appeared to be their spokesman. However, she was somewhat surprised by his abruptness and by his insistence that the deal be closed forthwith; and further taken aback when he asked her if she would be able to sign the papers on the following day. Afterwards, when the house was hers and she had settled in, Connie was to discover that mystery was a way of life with Vincent O Connor. Even so, she was beginning to rely on him more and more as she settled into the new routine of days and nights at Shekinah. But then, out of the blue, revelations about the man with whom she had shared a life for many years came to light and put her new life at Shekinah under threat Set in the 1970s, The Solace of Sin is the story of a strong and independent woman whose life is transformed by new surroundings and new acquaintances. It is a compelling and richly satisfying novel.

Riley

There were many who said that Riley appeared to be older than his years. He finished school at an early age, leaving a harsh childhood behind him, brim*ming with optimism and secure in the knowledge that his teacher, Fred Beardsley, had faith in him. Neither of them could have envisaged at the time how their lives would be intertwined. Riley, a gifted mimic, was offered a position as stage manager at The Little Palace Theatre and surprised Fred by forming a close friendship with the older leading lady, Nyrene Forbes Mason, who was nurturing his burgeoning talent as an actor. What Riley hadn t told him was that he had great hopes of the relationship developing into something more. Over the subsequent years, Fred followed Riley‘s rise to fame and fortune and his relationship with Nyrene did indeed change, although not in the way that Riley had envisaged

The Blind Years

Bridget Gether’s parents were killed in the wartime Blitz and she was taken in by the Overmeers at Balderstone, their sprawling country estate. Unaware that she was being manipulated into marrying their son, an encounter with the son of a local farmer opens her eyes to the possibility that she was making a mistake…

A House Divided

Throughout her life Catherine Cookson was one of the world’s most beloved writers. Her books sold millions of copies, and when she died in 1998, she left behind several books still to be published. A House Divided is a vintage Cookson novel, filled with the themes and types of characters that have always thrilled her many fans. Blinded during the Second World War, Matthew Wallingham, a decorated war hero, feels he is faced with a grim future. Lying in his hospital bed, he imagines his life as an invalid and falls into a depression that neither his friends nor his family can coax him out of. His nurse, Elizabeth Duckworth, becomes his saving grace her gentleness, warmth, and compassion bring new vitality to Matthew’s heart. In the meantime, the effects of the war are too keenly felt throughout Britain. Shortages of food and ramshackle buildings are commonplace as Matthew and the other soldiers return to their homes, families, and workplaces. The people of Britain are adjusting to the reality of postwar austerity and attempting to return to their mode of life prior to the war. Matthew is faced with a new set of problems upon returning home. His mother is suffering due to his father’s illness, and his younger brother, who successfully managed the family farm during the war, resents Matthew, who thinks that he will now comanage the farm. Matthew’s grandmother is the only person who he feels listens to him, but the rest of the family regards her as the bane of their existence. Soon Matthew finds that all of his thoughts are focused on Elizabeth. Attempts to carry out his plans to find work have left him frustrated, and Elizabeth becomes his only hope for a happy future. However, Elizabeth, from a less than privileged family, is not the woman Matthew’s parents will consent to him marrying, and she has a secret that will inevitably bring horrifying violence to the Wallingham clan. This wonderful novel again illustrates the enormous talents of Catherine Cookson and clearly will thrill her legions of devoted readers.

The Silent Lady

Catherine Cookson was one of the world’s most beloved writers. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imagination of readers around the globe. She passed away in 1998, but luckily for her fans, Cookson left behind several unpublished novels, among them the compelling Silent Lady.

The story begins with a shocking revelation, delivered by a disheveled woman who presents herself at the offices of a respectable law firm in London. At first the receptionist suspects this mysterious woman is a vagrant; the clothes that hang on her frail body are filthy, and she seems unable to speak. When the woman requests to see the firm’s senior partner, Alexander Armstrong, she is shown the door but when Mr. Armstrong learns the name of his visitor, all the office staff is amazed by his reaction. For Irene Baindor is a woman with a past, and her emergence from obscurity signals the unraveling of a mystery that had baffled the lawyer for twenty six years.

To those around her, Irene Baindor had been a young woman of class and musical talent, the wife of a wealthy and powerful man, and the mother to a beloved baby boy. But behind closed doors she was a woman with a dangerous husband, a husband who would one day act with such cruelty that Irene would be left without most of her voice and memory. It was then that Irene disappeared. What Irene had been doing, and where she had been, gradually emerges over the following weeks, as the unlikely benefactors who had befriended her step forward to reveal the remarkable life she has led.

Fans of Cookson’s novels, with their larger themes of romantic love and class conflict, will be delighted by the mystery and surprise of The Silent Lady. Drawing from her own firsthand experience of working class life between two world wars and in the 1950s, Cookson once again displays the irresistible plotting, scene setting, and characterization that have made her an icon of historical and romance fiction.

The Simple Soul and Other Stories

This collection of stories is set against the background of places already familiar to Catherine Cookson’s countless readers…
As well as the title story, there are three stories that make up The Forbidden Word, and also these stories: The Creak, Lingerie, Nasty!, Don’t Touch!, For Fear Of…
, Silly Mid on and Blitz.

Our Kate

Catherine Cookson is known and loved for her vibrant and earthy novels set in and around the North East of England, past and present. Her autobiography makes plain how it is she knows her background and her characters so well. The Our Kate of the title is not Catherine Cookson, but her mother, around whom the autobiography revolves. Despite her faults, Kate emerges as a warm and loveable human figure. Our Kate is an honest statement about living with hardship and poverty, seen through the eyes of a highly sensitive child and woman, whose zest for life and unquenchable sense of humour won through to make Catherine Cookson the warm, engaging and human writer she is today.

Let Me Make Myself Plain

A collection of Cookson’s essays, poetry, drawings and personal reflections.

Plainer Still

Following the remarkable success of Let Me Make Myself Plain, Catherine Cookson has compiled a further selection of thoughts, recollections, and observations on life and death together with another selection of the poems she prefers to call ‘prose on short lines’. In Plainer Still, she reveals the source of the great inner strength she needs to carry on the battle of life, and which has, for the past fifty years, enabled her to write many novels, each of them inspired by the harsh and uncompromising nature of her early experiences. As John Braine wrote when reviewing Catherine Cookson Country, ‘One way or another, she is an inspiration, a noble spirit’. In Plainer Still, a new personal anthology illustrated by many photographs, readers will certainly find themselves inspired by the indomitable spirit of this remarkable lady.

My Land of the North

An account of Catherine Cookson’s harsh upbringing in the industrial North East, and the effect that its poverty, exploitation and bigotry had on her life and her writing. The book is a tribute by Cookson to the land of her birth, which provided the inspiration for all her novels.

Kate’s Daughter: The Real Catherine Cookson (With: )

Kate’s Daughter gets to the heart of the Catherine Cookson story. With the help of material made available only since Catherine’s death interviews with family and friends and Catherine’s written records, letters, and diaries Piers Dudgeon lifts the veil on the myth and lays bare the true nature of this complex and fascinating woman.

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